FORMER NIRVANA BASSIST KEEPS LETTING ME DOWN
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?]
