FORMER NIRVANA BASSIST KEEPS LETTING ME DOWN
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 11:45am by Gary Suarez
I have a beef with Krist Novoselic. Though he doesn’t know that I exist, I’ve written about him on my No Yoko No blog a couple of times. Nearly all of the music Novoselic has put out since his time with Nirvana I could pretty much do without, as he’s distanced himself from anything even remotely rocking. Of course, his membership in a reunited Flipper beginning in 2006 gave me hope that I’d once again hear something worthwhile from one of the first bassists that inspired me to pick up the instrument. Sadly, he left the seminal punk group holding the bag just prior to a U.S. tour this past Fall, forcing the band to cancel the dates on account of the short notice. In that band’s own words, Novoselic “has decided that touring is not something he wants to do, at this time.”
So what’s does Novoselic want to do? Instead of touring with Flipper or making music I’d actually want to hear, he’s pulling off publicity stunts about loopholes in local Washington (not D.C.) politics that somehow fools Blabbermouth and Entertainment Weekly alike. I’m on the same side of the political spectrum as Mr. Novoselic, and I appreciate his political activism, but will the man who stole the bassline from Killing Joke’s “Eighties” and repurposed it into “Come As You Are” please come back to his senses and make some fucking music?
Thankfully, his time in Flipper yielded two discs worth of such music released just last month! Love is a brand-new studio album co-written and performed with Novoselic, while Fight presents a live recording of that configuration of the band. Unfortunately, Flipper doesn’t seem to have a label willing to actually promote these records, so I’ve only just become aware of their release. BUY THEM NOW! If you happen to live down under, you can catch the band (sans Novoselic) playing gigs in Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland, and some other Aussie places in the coming days. And if you happen to live nearby Novoselic, tell that dude that WE GOT BEEF!
-GS
[Gary Suarez wiggerslammed your deathcore. He also writes for Brainwashed and sometimes manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]
Well then you’ll also be pleased to learn that he’s running for county clerk of Wahkiakum County in Washington… What exactly does a county clerk do? Not play a sick bass I recon.
That’s the publicity stunt I refer to above. According to WaPo:
‘The ex-Nirvana bassist filed papers to run for Wahkiakum County Clerk, in the southwest part of Washington state that he now calls home. But it’s a publicity stunt, he says, designed to draw attention to a flaw in the state’s election system. Key paragraph: “The issue, he said, is that candidates can declare their own party on the ballot, regardless of whether they’re truly Republicans or Democrats. They can also file under a fictitious party, as Novoselic did this week.” Says Novoselic, who registered to run as a member of the “Grange Party,” which doesn’t exist: “It’s complicated. It confuses voters and it disenfranchises voters. And we should think about a settlement that speaks to the needs and values of Washington voters.” He swears he doesn’t want to win, though, saying he’ll vote for the incumbent — and that he’ll resign if elected.’
Interesting. Even if people know that this is a stunt, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got elected. A lot of people in Washington are still insane over all things Nirvana, especially in the po-dunk towns — Cobain shrines everywhere. Plus, voters are stupid. He should’ve called his party the “Grunge Party.” Zing?!
At best for me this guy was just the other guy beside Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain. I never saw the brillance and when looking at what he has become I don’t expect that brillance to come shining through anytime soon.
Krist novoselic is a huge reason for me picking up a bass as a teenager. I spent a lot of time learning his basslines and aping his playing style and wishing I was six foot seven so I could look as badass as him riding his rock axe that was played at ankle height.
That said, it saddens me to see that his musical output since nirvana’s demise is minimal, and at some points, laughable. There’s a quote in the nirvana biography “come as you are” where he says something to the effect of “I don’t want to be some pundit, I play bass in the rock band” I’m paraphrasing, but you get the gist. Stop being a pundit, krist, and play in a rock band. I’ll pay good money to see you do a sensational bass toss. You’re still the man though, as far as I’m concerned.
Man that guy looks old now.
ps Auckland isn’t in Australia :)
The only thing I knew he did since Nirvana was the No WTO Combo show during the Seattle WTO protests. It came out ok.
The only thing I knew he did since Nirvana was slitting his wrists because nirvana sucked dead aidsbaby balls