Great bass lines in punk

[P-Belly Evans]

Three pages in and no mention of one of the greatest bass players of any genre ever in my opinion. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the fantastic Mr Rob Wright of the epic Nomeansno. Pretty much any of his bass lines are wonderful. This will get you started... 

 

 

[SteveXFR]

Not all punk is just root notes

https://youtu.be/e5Wxn37Tt1Y

 

There's plenty more like this. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by SteveXFR

[Lozz196]

Indeed, even The Sex Pistols in the Matlock years had fluid melodic bass lines.

[joeystrange]

Mike Dirnt has always played tasteful, melodic bass parts without getting into full Matt Freeman territory.

I also love Karl Alvarez’s playing on pretty much everything he does. I love how the guitar and bass change as to which is the lead instrument throughout songs.

 

[Maude]

19 hours ago, TheLowDown said:

I thought it was usually just root notes in punk. Because punk is so busy for the bass to be audible, it doesn't benefit from having anything more than that, and could probably do away with the bass altogether and just have down tuned guitars.

 

 

 

12 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

I was hoping someone else would answer this, but they haven't and  I've had a few pints now,.

Can't make up my mind whether it's trolling or ignorance

Ah shite, I'll bite 😄. 

I'll assume it's not trolling, and at a guess say we're talking about about more modern thrash type punk rather than the more traditional punk, which was often quite melodic really, ha 'trad punk'. 

Even in more modern heavier punk with downtuned guitars thrashing away and the bass predominantly following root notes you'd still really notice if that bass wasn't there. Sometimes just bashing out root notes is what drives the song and all that is needed, less is definitely more sometimes, but not none. 

Here's a couple of bass covers of Gallows songs where the bass mainly plays the root with some fills thrown in, but you can't honestly say that the bass wouldn't be missed if left out?

Maybe bad production makes the bass inaudible in some recordings but live it really matters. 

I saw Gallows in a 200 capacity sweat box and you knew the bass was there, it was visceral. 

[PaulWarning]

21 minutes ago, Maude said:

 

Ah shite, I'll bite 😄. 

I'll assume it's not trolling, and at a guess say we're talking about about more modern thrash type punk rather than the more traditional punk, which was often quite melodic really, ha 'trad punk'. 

Even in more modern heavier punk with downtuned guitars thrashing away and the bass predominantly following root notes you'd still really notice if that bass wasn't there. Sometimes just bashing out root notes is what drives the song and all that is needed, less is definitely more sometimes, but not none. 

Here's a couple of bass covers of Gallows songs where the bass mainly plays the root with some fills thrown in, but you can't honestly say that the bass wouldn't be missed if left out?

Maybe bad production makes the bass inaudible in some recordings but live it really matters. 

I saw Gallows in a 200 capacity sweat box and you knew the bass was there, it was visceral. 

ah! ok, I guess it is hard to hear the bass in some recordings like this, although not these examples, but to me that's not punk, that's more like my idea of metal, but I may be wrong, it's not my cup of tea at all, it's a million miles away from my idea of punk

[Maude]

59 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

ah! ok, I guess it is hard to hear the bass in some recordings like this, although not these examples, but to me that's not punk, that's more like my idea of metal, but I may be wrong, it's not my cup of tea at all, it's a million miles away from my idea of punk

For what it's worth I totally agree with your post I quoted, I was just trying to find a reason for @TheLowDowns post.

Punk is such a wide term now I suppose. Somebody younger might be listening to bands like Gallows thinking this is what all punk sounds like. As you say it's closer to metal than punk of the seventies. Without getting into the whole 'what is punk debate', I'd say Gallows definitely have that punk edge compared to most metal though. British 70s punk isn't anything like American punk to me, especially the second wave of American punk bands like NOFX, Green Day, Bad Religion, Dropkick Murphys, etc. Punk to me is still 70s and British, but I still like all the other types and they have their place in the story of punk. 

 

[SteveXFR]

Punk has always had a heavy side, even in the early days, Black Flag and Bad Brains started before punk had kicked off in Britain and some of the Sooges stuff was close to hardcore in the early 70s.

British punk was maybe a bit more melodic than US punk 

[joeystrange]

32 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

British punk was maybe a bit more melodic than US punk 

I’d be tempted to disagree with this, for various reasons, but that’s another discussion for another day.

[Graham]

I'd put Gallows in the Hardcore category myself, which in itself is quite broad and crosses over with both punk and metal at various points.

[pst62]

Mark Henry put down some great lines on Toyah's first album, Sheep Farming in Barnet. ignore her wailing, and enjoy the prog influenced music.

 

[Al Krow]

51 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

British punk was maybe a bit more melodic than US punk 

Not sure that's right. Anything over here in the same creative league as Green Day?

This thread has got me learning my first new punk bass line in a while today:  Adolsecents No Friends - kinda appropriate title for lock-down!

And picking up on the posts above, remove the bass line and you lose a lot.

[Stub Mandrel]

I've never been very convinced that most of what America calls punk is punk (the Ramones and the RHCP in their early days FFS !)

One honorable exception  - the Dead Kennedys.

[PaulWarning]

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've never been very convinced that most of what America calls punk is punk (the Ramones and the RHCP in their early days FFS !)

One honorable exception  - the Dead Kennedys.

that really is a can of worms, most genre's bleed into others, punk more than most

[CPCustomdubwise]

Punk was so much a case of the sum of the parts being greater than any individual bit on its own...

But as mentioned before, Segs' parts in the entire Ruts catalogue were always amazingly creative and original....try "Dope for guns" - a stuoendous bassline. But really, everything from him.

Also, Darryl Jenifer from Bad Brains... pretry much everything.

And by no means a spectacular bass player, but Severin's lines on the first Banshees album define the songs and remain fantastically exciting to play.

[CPCustomdubwise]

 Green Day ?????!!!!

Struggling a bit with that assertion, Al.

 

[SteveXFR]

58 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've never been very convinced that most of what America calls punk is punk (the Ramones and the RHCP in their early days FFS !)

One honorable exception  - the Dead Kennedys.

Black Flag, Stooges, Bad Brains, Misfits, Circle Jerks, Fear. Definitely all punk. RHCP were never punk. Neither were Green Day

[Al Krow]

And the Ramones? Do they pass or fail the "SteveXFR it's really punk" test? 😉

[Maude]

I'd have said Green Day were a pretty key band in the late 80s/early 90s American punk revival scene. That scene was different to the more hardcore scene that was prevalent up to that time, but still very much a punk scene. Some bands bridged the gap, as will always be the case, Operation Ivy were part of the Hardcore scene but slotted into that Revival scene when they morphed into Rancid, Bad Religion were part of both too, along with others. Rancids Hellcat Records and Bad Religions Epitaph launched countless other punk revival bands, along with NOFX's Fat Wreck Chords. Green Day got popular, signed with a major and went for the money, and who can blame them? 

There's many different areas of punk and little point arguing what's punk or not. 

[SteveXFR]

59 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

And the Ramones? Do they pass or fail the "SteveXFR it's really punk" test? 😉

Ramones were the first band ever to featured in Punk magazine which was the origin of the name of the genre so I can't really argue with that. 

Their music was just simple rock songs played fast and then twice as fast again live. 

[Al Krow]

12 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

Ramones were the first band ever to featured in Punk magazine which was the origin of the name of the genre so I can't really argue with that. 

Their music was just simple rock songs played fast and then twice as fast again live. 

But that's the point isn't it?

For me, punk = rebellion against the 15 min prog rock tracks that the 70's gen, at the time, felt was stifling music. It was raw, simple, energetic and powerful.

And if the Ramones (quite rightly as the founders of punk) qualify, why not Boomtown Rats, Green Day etc?

Ok some punk bands were musically more talented than others. But that's true of all rock.

If this isn't a brilliant melodic punk riff and drum line, what the heck is it?!

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Al Krow
PS and of course it's melodic with the chords being broadly based on Pachelbel's Canon in D

[Maude]

You know what's not punk? 

Debating what is punk! 

If I say it's punk, it's punk. 

Now f**k off!! 

😆😆😆

[Dad3353]

23 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

...If this (Basket Case...) isn't a brilliant melodic punk riff and drum line, what the heck is it?! ...

We tried to add this to our repertoire, and rehearsed it a few times. It didn't end well..! 

[Al Krow]

2 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

We tried to add this to our repertoire, and rehearsed it a few times. It didn't end well..! 

It's in our set - got requested for a wedding! But we're lucky to have a top notch drummer.

(Not saying you aren't Douglas, or maybe I should as this is a punk thread...😁)

[Old Man Riva]

19 minutes ago, Al Krow said:For me, punk = rebellion against the 15 min prog rock tracks that the 70's gen, at the time, felt was stifling music. It was raw, simple, energetic and powerful.

Probably one for a different thread, but... I think punk in the UK was more a backlash against the bands you’d hear/see on Radio 1/TOTP at the time - ELO, Sad Cafe, Leo Sayer, Rod (in his Britt era), etc - rather than prog bands.

You’d be hard pushed to hear ELP, Yes, Gentle Giant, King Crimson et al on daytime radio - and by the time both ELP and Yes had singles out in ‘77, New Rose and Anarchy in the UK had been and gone the previous year.