PatrickJ Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 (edited) Any recommendations for interesting Rock bassists / bass lines from the last few decades? I seem to have lost touch with what's happening in music these days but the band I'm playing are looking to get some pub gigs next year and I'm trying to build some set lists. Most of the songs going on are pretty uninspiring from a bass perspective, it's the usual mix of Foo Fighters, Strokes, Oasis, Kings of Leon etc. I don't mind that and it's what seems to go down well in dive bars but I'm looking for a few songs that will challenge me and be a bit interesting to play and hopefully listen too! Flea, Tony Kanal, Jeff Ament, Chris Wolstenholme are guys I'm going to check out as they play in bands that would fit but even they are pretty dated now - there must be some more modern stuff that's pretty good that's passed me by. Thanks Edited November 28, 2018 by PJ-Bassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Are you looking for songs that will keep your band booked? Or bass lines that will keep you ‘challenged’? The overlap is minimal! Lol Si 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Sibob said: Are you looking for songs that will keep your band booked? Or bass lines that will keep you ‘challenged’? The overlap is minimal! Lol Si As above. There have been a few reasonably, if temporarily, popular rock bands (within a rather broad definition of 'rock' as opposed to the ridiculous number of subgenres formerly known as 'metal') with interesting basslines in the last decade or so. Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Maximo Park spring to mind. Whether there's any demand from audiences to hear any of their tracks apart from maybe a couple of early Arctic Monkeys songs is uncertain. Edited November 28, 2018 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misdee Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 If you are prepared to go back as far as the late 70's / early 80's, then Bruce Thomas playing with Elvis Costello and The Attractions and Andy Rourke with the Smiths were both wonderfully creative players. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted November 28, 2018 Author Share Posted November 28, 2018 22 minutes ago, Misdee said: If you are prepared to go back as far as the late 70's / early 80's, then Bruce Thomas playing with Elvis Costello and The Attractions and Andy Rourke with the Smiths were both wonderfully creative players. I'll definitely have a few older ones in there - 100% agree on Andy Rourke! I've never listened to much Costello but will take some time too. But really I'm looking for some suggestions of music produced after 2000. 37 minutes ago, Sibob said: Are you looking for songs that will keep your band booked? Or bass lines that will keep you ‘challenged’? The overlap is minimal! Lol Si LOL surely not, it can't be true! Is Rock n Roll dead after all??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 So many great bassists are in bands that do not lend themselves to a pub rock cover set, as they are not in mainstream ‘everybody knows the songs’ type bands. The bassist in Karnivool is one of the most most talented bassists in semi-mainstream rock, but Karnivool material is not really stuff that that will fit in with a set of Foo Fighters, Oasis and Strokes songs. You could tweak a couple of Royal Blood or Death From Above 1979 songs for a full band. Some of the trippy, less heavy Deftones or Queens of the Stone Age stuff might work as well as the basslines but they are hardly new and a lot of the songs are in lower than standard tuning. Also, I might be on the verge of losing my ‘stoner/doom fan’ credibility but I absolutely love the early We Are Scientists albums. With Love and Squalir is such a cool pop/rock album. Not a great bassist but the songs are so catchy and fun to listen to, with added bonus that the album sold quite well so any of the songs would fit in with a popular modern rock/covers set. I also don’t mind some of the Kasabian basslines. The basslines in some Elbow songs are pretty cool. Not new bands, but newer than Oasis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyuuga Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Michael Shuman (Queens of the Stone Age) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9OfBcjyxKY Kevin Baird (Two Door Cinema Club) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXwYJyrKK5A Chris Edwards (Kasabian) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5iMgG-WJI Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnKUD_OztRE Cole Whittle (DNCE) - not really Rock, it's more like Funk-Pop but still a hell of a bassline, very fun to play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myaN5jTh79o ------------- These aren't really obscure hits or anything (in fact, all of them are mainstream hits) but it's just some modern Rock songs & bands with some great bass playing. There's also great bassists from other genres like Bruno Mars' bassist, Jamareo Artis, Thundercat, etc. Lots of great new bass players out there. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 3 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said: LOL surely not, it can't be true! Is Rock n Roll dead after all??? Far from it, but a purely a ‘challenging’ bass line does not a good song make Si 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazBeen Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Pete Griffin, Troy Sanders, Tetsuya Ogawa, Chris Kael, Johnny Christ, Mike d’Antonio are a few worth checking, I do notlike all their bands but appreciate their playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, Sibob said: Far from it, but a purely a ‘challenging’ bass line does not a good song make Si I'm happy to forego challenging and settle for interesting. What I mean is a lot of music I seem to end up playing spends an awful lot of time pedalling the root note :). Edited November 29, 2018 by PJ-Bassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 8 hours ago, HazBeen said: Pete Griffin, Troy Sanders, Tetsuya Ogawa, Chris Kael, Johnny Christ, Mike d’Antonio are a few worth checking, I do notlike all their bands but appreciate their playing. Thanks - all abit metal orientated for your typical pub crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown_User Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) I always thought the bass player in the Foo Fighters was pretty good. Some other suggestions with interesting bass lines that might fit and go down well in pubs: Holiday - Vampire Weekend Going for Gold - Shed Seven Love Cats - The Cure Rebel Rebel - Bowie Fire - Hendrix Rocks - Primal Scream And if you fancy a few in drop D... Place Your Hands - Reef On a Plain - Nirvana Even Flow - Pearl Jam Edited November 29, 2018 by Unknown_User Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40hz Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Check out Walter Gervers from Foals. Brilliant bass player. A lot of Foals tracks have very melodic bass, Blue Blood being one of my favourites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyquipment Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Learn your favourite tracks from now that’s what I call music volumes 46 to 156. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Nick Oliveri (QOTSA) - No One Knows. James Johnson (Biffy Clyro) does some interesting chuggy stuff Mike Dirnt (Green Day) has some killer lines. Mark Stoermer (The Killers) is worth checking out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) 18 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said: Flea, Tony Kanal, Jeff Ament, Chris Wolstenholme are guys I'm going to check out as they play in bands that would fit but even they are pretty dated now - there must be some more modern stuff that's pretty good that's passed me by. Thanks They're all new guys so far as I'm concerned! Most of my influences were probably 2 decades before. Chris Squire, John Entwistle, Geddy Lee, Glenn Hughes, Roger Glover, Lemmy, Bruce Foxton, Jean Jacques Burnel, Mike Rutherford, Jon Camp, Geezer Butler and probably dozens of others. Unfortunately many of those play music that might not be great 'pub cover band' fare. Although a set consisting of The Gates of Delirium, the whole of Tommy, Supper's Ready and Xanadu would certainly give the audience something to think about. Edited November 29, 2018 by 4000 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) +1 on Kevin Parker - check out Apocalypse Dreams and It Is Not Meant to Be. Interpol and Deerhunter are worth a look, and there are some good Strokes basslines! Is This It is pretty iconic Edited November 29, 2018 by Spaced Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 4 hours ago, 4000 said: They're all new guys so far as I'm concerned! Most of my influences were probably 2 decades before. Chris Squire, John Entwistle, Geddy Lee, Glenn Hughes, Roger Glover, Lemmy, Bruce Foxton, Jean Jacques Burnel, Mike Rutherford, Jon Camp, Geezer Butler and probably dozens of others. Unfortunately many of those play music that might not be great 'pub cover band' fare. Although a set consisting of The Gates of Delirium, the whole of Tommy, Supper's Ready and Xanadu would certainly give the audience something to think about. I'd go to that gig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 How about Mike Kerr from Royal Blood? Pretty unique and a whole world of fun playing his stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) 5 minutes ago, mrtcat said: How about Mike Kerr from Royal Blood? Pretty unique and a whole world of fun playing his stuff. We are actually doing a Royal Blood song, figure it out - but when you re-engineer it to work as a full band and you are simply playing the notes from the lower register it becomes less fun to play. Edited November 29, 2018 by PJ-Bassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 6 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said: We are actually doing a Royal Blood song, figure it out - but when you re-engineer it to work as a full band and you are simply playing the notes from the lower register it becomes less fun to play. Our guitarist goes for a beer when we play Figure It Out 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 10 hours ago, 40hz said: Check out Walter Gervers from Foals. Brilliant bass player. A lot of Foals tracks have very melodic bass, Blue Blood being one of my favourites. I'm digging the Foals! Definitely going to look at adding a track or two from this lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 18 hours ago, dmccombe7 said: I'd go to that gig Me too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 On 29/11/2018 at 23:00, PJ-Bassist said: I'm digging the Foals! Definitely going to look at adding a track or two from this lot. Me too thanks to this thread! Really digging their stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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