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MEGA THREAD:: Favorite/Best Punk Bassist

#621
Matt Till said:
Punk bass (lets just say 8th notes) don't suck! They serve a musical purpose... there are times when straight 8ths are the greatest thing you can do to a song.
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This is true across many genres. I would give a lot to be able to play 1/8 notes on DB the way Ray Brown did. I also wish I could crank like Klaus Flouride.

There are people playing every genre who are not so good or are having a bad night. It takes time to learn. Read about the Ramones first gigs, they couldn't play. Everyone said it took them a year or two of constant practice and gigging. Look at the early reviews of the Patti Smith Group, not that they were punk but as an example of growth. The reviewers all panned the band and said Verlaine couldn't play guitar. A year or two later everyone was writing about how much better the band was.

Takes time to get good, a lot of us never do, no matter what genre we favor.

Peace,
S
 
#622
tzadik said:
Pop-punk bassist, checking in.

Guess what, it IS lame. And we do totally do play dress-up for shows. And guess what, it SELLS. And we have...gasp...FUN with it. I might even go see us. It's a show, it's a performance. Dressing up and acting a certain way are merely job requirements. You play the role, you get the paycheck. Music is art, yeah, but if your music can help pay the bills, so what if you have to sacrifice some of the art. It's only a job, right? And it's better than flippin burgers.

The Dead Kennedys, or any Real punk band would laugh and/or cry if they heard us. But a good pop punk band is not Trying to be the DK or Black Flag etc. Whole different thing.

And guess what else. My jazz gigs require me to dress up, too. and sometimes that's pretty lame.... to play a luncheon and play Girl From Ipanema and Satin Doll and every other played-to-death jazz tune. But again, it's a gig, and you do it, and you stick to the genre you're supposed to play and it's fine.

What I am saying is there is lameness in many genres. As a jazz composer and double bassist who would rather have DIED than used a pick a year ago, I'm going to go out on my limb and say...

...playing in a pop-punk band has actually made me a better bassist and better musician.
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I'm not saying people shouldn't play punk or dress up. There's nothing wrong with either. But just call it pop. There's no need to call it punk because it isn't. The problem I have is all the kids who think that punk is pop songs about girls written by jocks with bas hair cuts. I'm glad your having a good time playing fast pop music that''s not a problem for me and it shouldn't be for anyone just call it what it is.Pop.
 
#623
Bob Whiteside from SNAPCASE was really excellent. check out his work on "lookinglasself. Usually in the heavier hardcore bands the bass is buried in the mix under those damn guitars but on this record it's mixed well.

I also like Mike Herrera from MXPX. Always good playing and since he's the leader, you can always hear the bass in their recordings! lol
 
#625
I can't believe no one's mentioned Joe Raposo from RKL (Rich Kids On LSD). If it wasn't for them there would be no hardcore/metal/punk. Fast, creative basslines. And as far as the whole pop-punk argument, get over it dude; it's all music, all subjective. Bands like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte will not exist in a couple of years and no one will remember them. There's no substance.
 
#626
Tommy B from D.F.L. - Proud To Be is one of the best albums ever made.
Matt Freeman- Duh.
Also the bassist from the Fartz, not the best musucian, but he sits pretty high in the mix, good rythms
Craig Ahead- Sick Of It All He also does some sweet vocals once in awhile
Bassist from H2O
Bassist from 7 Seconds, Walk together rock together and earlier, The intro from We're Gonna Fight gets my blood going everytime
Bassist of Pennywise, Brohymm is a great song with a great rythm

The reason why punk was so popular in the 80's is because you didn't have to play 20 minute guitar solos, or wear those spandex zebra pants ( David Lee Roth anyone?). It was music that anyone could play. It was pissed off music. It was the kind of music that made your parents have a stroke. It was played by normal looking people. It was fast, loud, and gave people that were once Nerds, Dorks, Different, whatever, a feeling of belonging. It gave a sense of community. In a time when the rock music industry was filled with bands like REO Speedwagon, Poison, Winger, softer acts like Lionel Ritchie, and a bunch of other Super Popular groups, punk music dared people to be different. To think different about your government, to question history, to realize that there is a difference between what you really believe and what you are told to believe. Punk is not fashion, it's not hairdos, apparel, looking like a pincushion, it's all about being an individual, realizing that you don't have to be like everyone else. You don't have to look a certain way. I wear jeans and a t-shirt most of the time. I don't have a super cool leather jacket, or spiked wrist bands or whatever. I guess punk is more of an ideal these days. Just my 2 cents.
 
#627
JoeVictim said:
The reason why punk was so popular in the 80's
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember punk being pretty underground in the 80s. It was popular in the late 70s, and those bands gave way to Replacements and Pixies and REM. Kind of made a comeback in the 90s. Are you talking about Husker Du, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys? Not sure I'd call them poular.

Toe-may-toe, Toe-mah-toe.
 
#630
Maybe popular was the wrong word. Replace that with, the reason why punk rock was as widespread as it was. Yes, 80's. I feel that more record stores, more touring bands, more bands in general came about. People starting zines, so many small and now defunct record labels that put out a handful of albums, most of this was in the 80's; people felt that they had to play thier part. People started becoming more involved, started to mold "their" scene. In the late 70's punk was more of an art form. The Dils were art students and considered the band to be a long art project. IMO, punk was written off in the 70's. It became a defined style of music in the early 80's with the new style of music coming out. Bands like DOA, Black Flag, Teen Idles, helped shape the path of what the genre was really about. I personally do not think of the Ramones as punk, nor Iggy and the Stooges, or Sex Pistols. I thought of these bands as generic ideals of Fashion Companies, Record Labels, or a throw back to 60's pop. Listen to Hardcore 81' and then listen to any of the aforementioned band's albums. DOA is, to me, a better representation of what Punk is than those other bands. Fast, Loud, and Raw!!! I guess this does not take into account the 77' bands, but IMO, I don't feel that these bands shaped the music as much as the early 80's bands. Raw Power, Confuse, Discharge, DOA, MDC, Tarveet Kadet, Negative Approach, Kuro, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, etc, etc, etc...
Point is, I love punk music and feel that a lot of bands are/were way underated because they aren't as well known or as poppy (marketable).
 
#631
tzadik said:
Pop-punk bassist, checking in.

Guess what, it IS lame. And we do totally do play dress-up for shows. And guess what, it SELLS. And we have...gasp...FUN with it. I might even go see us. It's a show, it's a performance. Dressing up and acting a certain way are merely job requirements. You play the role, you get the paycheck. Music is art, yeah, but if your music can help pay the bills, so what if you have to sacrifice some of the art. It's only a job, right? And it's better than flippin burgers.
QUOTE]

Kiss dressed up, I don't like KISS. Gwar dresses up, BOO! Marilyn Manson Dresses "UP", I wanna smack him with a lead pipe. Point is, being in a band isn't about dressing up, its about playing music you have a passion for. If you have to "dress" a certain way that isn't your norm, than you shouldn't be playing. This does not include formal blacktie events that you mentioned with your jazz band as you wouldn't really have a choice of what to wear. Just my .02
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#632
Kiss dressed up, I don't like KISS. Gwar dresses up, BOO! Marilyn Manson Dresses "UP", I wanna smack him with a lead pipe. Point is, being in a band isn't about dressing up, its about playing music you have a passion for. If you have to "dress" a certain way that isn't your norm, than you shouldn't be playing. This does not include formal blacktie events that you mentioned with your jazz band as you wouldn't really have a choice of what to wear. Just my .02
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People pay for entertainment. Stage show is just as important, or more important than, the music itself. Rock'n'roll is about pushing boundaries and the conservative cattle can't really stop it. Blah.
 
#635
JoeVictim said:
Maybe popular was the wrong word. Replace that with, the reason why punk rock was as widespread as it was. Yes, 80's. I feel that more record stores, more touring bands, more bands in general came about. People starting zines, so many small and now defunct record labels that put out a handful of albums, most of this was in the 80's; people felt that they had to play thier part. People started becoming more involved, started to mold "their" scene. In the late 70's punk was more of an art form. The Dils were art students and considered the band to be a long art project. IMO, punk was written off in the 70's. It became a defined style of music in the early 80's with the new style of music coming out. Bands like DOA, Black Flag, Teen Idles, helped shape the path of what the genre was really about. I personally do not think of the Ramones as punk, nor Iggy and the Stooges, or Sex Pistols. I thought of these bands as generic ideals of Fashion Companies, Record Labels, or a throw back to 60's pop. Listen to Hardcore 81' and then listen to any of the aforementioned band's albums. DOA is, to me, a better representation of what Punk is than those other bands. Fast, Loud, and Raw!!! I guess this does not take into account the 77' bands, but IMO, I don't feel that these bands shaped the music as much as the early 80's bands. Raw Power, Confuse, Discharge, DOA, MDC, Tarveet Kadet, Negative Approach, Kuro, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, etc, etc, etc...
Point is, I love punk music and feel that a lot of bands are/were way underated because they aren't as well known or as poppy (marketable).
Click to expand...

With respect because I agree with you (a little), it is ironic that you choose to say that Iggy And The Stooges aint Punk, then the first band you mention to describe "real" punk is Raw Power... just pointing out the irony...

But I do agree somewhat... The Stooges, MC5, The Dolls, Ramones, Pistols, Clash etc... they just made great rock 'n' roll... as did The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, The Dictators, Sham 69, 999, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Magazine, The Damned, Television, Fear and Pere Ubu... I don't think Punk should be used as a term for music in any shape or form (much like heavy metal),.... that way you and I come together as brothers in our appreciation for music that society, our surroundings and our parents hated... and that my friend was what is was all about... a reflection of all those things put back in their faces for them to see what they had created...
 
#636
marcray said:
With respect because I agree with you (a little), it is ironic that you choose to say that Iggy And The Stooges aint Punk, then the first band you mention to describe "real" punk is Raw Power... just pointing out the irony...

But I do agree somewhat... The Stooges, MC5, The Dolls, Ramones, Pistols, Clash etc... they just made great rock 'n' roll... as did The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, The Dictators, Sham 69, 999, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Magazine, The Damned, Television, Fear and Pere Ubu... I don't think Punk should be used as a term for music in any shape or form (much like heavy metal),.... that way you and I come together as brothers in our appreciation for music that society, our surroundings and our parents hated... and that my friend was what is was all about... a reflection of all those things put back in their faces for them to see what they had created...
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DOA is the first band I mentioned.:D But either way, you have to realize that there are great punk rock musucians.
 
#637
Dash Rantic said:
True, I can't believe nobody has mentioned Mark Hoppus! :p

The bassists for Green Day (who does fit into the pop-punk category) and Dead Kennedys are both pretty good, though.

-Dash
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I know i have the 182 in my screen name but im not that much of a blink fan anymore, but Mark hoppus is a solid player, he has a good picking technique, and knows how to right a pop song. As for Matt Freeman, i think he is a bit of a over-kill bassist. I mean, alot of Rancid songs don't need complex bass lines and it takes away from the vocals. That being said though, he does have some cool bass lines.
 
#638
Lobotomy said:
I don't see how Rock N' Roll High School is mindless.

Not their best lyrics ever, but certainly not mindless.

They were just singing what they knew, and they came up with alot of great songs/lyrics.
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Well I don't care about history
Rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school
'Cause that's not where I wanna be
Rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school
I just wanna have some kicks
I just wanna get some chicks
Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school

Well the girls out there knock me out, you know
Rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school
Cruisin' around in my GTO
Rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school
I hate the teachers and the principal
Don't wanna be taught to be no fool
Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school

Fun fun rock'n'roll high school
Fun fun rock'n'roll high school
Fun fun rock'n'roll high school
Fun fun, oh baby




... *ahem* I've got no problem with the Ramones, but... those lyrics are mindless, that doesn't make them bad, it makes them "fun"
 

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