It’s a two string triplet. Also the verse is a 7 chord progression with the 4th chord being the most interesting. Listen to Suits and Ladders. That bass line is pretty cool
I don't think there's a delay. Mike has a very particular circular picking technique that he invented to play lines like these. I know some other people have already mentioned it, but The Decline has some incredible bass lines. It's also an 18-minute song, so I'd understand if you can't cover that. But it's worth it. One of the best punk songs ever made.
Upstroke triplets. You roll your wrist and pick in a circular motion.Beautiful technique. Uses them alot, sometimes at crazy speed. They have great chord progressions too. Fun to learn
I saw Mike play this live, took him three restarts to nail the intro, dropping to one knee for the last try seemed to do it. What a man, what a band, what a great song.
I saw him on an interview I think talking about his favorite songs and he had to restart a few times to get it down, once he’s got it going it doesn’t stop tho!
Mark Hoppus of Blink used to sit down to play one of the early songs off of Cheshire Cat, I gotnto hang out with him before they became famous and he said he couldn't play it standing up because it was too hard.
Don’t forget that he executes all of that WHILE singing! Fat Mike is a legend! El Hefe is an incredible lead guitarist. NOFX is one of the best punk rock bands of all time!
@@scottholden1862 well, I guess "the best" relies heavily on the lyrics as well. And in that matter, NOFX is rather unusual punk rock. Personally, I love the dark humor, the cultural plays, the jokes about ethnicity, etc., but I can understand people who don’t. It’s impossible to compare Fat Mike’s songwriting to e.g. Joe Strummer. That’s why I said ‚one of’.
Rich Kids on LSD (RKL) is one of the bands - if not the band - that influenced Fat Mike's bass playing the most. Extreme technical prowess and way, way ahead of their time when they released Rock & Roll Nigthmare in 1987. Still mindblowing to this day, with an unparallelled rhythm section. I'd recommend checking out the totally killer live version of "Blocked Out" (05:00 - 11:08 here th-cam.com/video/zzezFe5u3iw/w-d-xo.html) with Lil' Joe just destroying that headless Steinberger at the tender age of 18; alternatively "We're Back We're Pissed".
The most underrated hardcore punk band, Joe is a crazy bass player i cant have enough of watching him, to really see how crazy RKL was you have to see a live performance, that song "blocked out" is a great demonstration, i think you can hear the bass better on this version (th-cam.com/video/RjxqM5lPUxo/w-d-xo.html) Fat Mike trying to play some of that here eheh (th-cam.com/video/zq6ahFgpYJc/w-d-xo.html)
There's a great video on TH-cam where Fat Mike plays some of his favorite basslines, shows how he does his triplet upstroke technique in The Idiot's are Taking Over. Also "The Decline" is a must, it's long but worth it.
I might recommend their song We ‘Threw Gasoline on the Fire and Now We Have Stumps for Arms and No Eyebrows’. I feel like that one really shows Fat Mike‘s range as a bass player.
No lie I always used that in Hangman. It's tricky remembering where all the letters go though. You have to literally spell it out in your head. Way too many letters lol
@@d00byhauser83I remember hearing that for the first time back in 95 and being absolutely blown away. Though personally I'd have to say my favourite album is Heavy Petting Zoo. It's the one I relisten the most. For the longest time it was White Trash. Then Punk In Drublic. But Zoo is my jam. Freedom like a shopping cart, Philthy Phil, Black and White, Release the Hostages. Great stuff all round
The Decline is long but it's a masterpiece, there is also a live version they did with an orchestra which is really good. On the wierd picking in the intro he shows it in a loudwire interview which is also a good watch, its called NOFX's Fat Mike Plays His Favorite Bass Riffs the bit on the circle picking is on 3:30.
That's a great one, of many from them. Propagandhi needs some love. I think Natural Disasters would be perfect for this channel. Mr. Kowalski is all over the place on that one
Some suggestions from NoFX and also the band Suicide Machines: NoFX: - The Quitter - Release The Hostages - The Malachi Crunch - All Outta Angst - American Errorist Suicide Machines: - Hey - High Anxiety - Insecurities - Break The Glass
Because of the length The Decline from NOFX may not be what you want to cover, but it's what you need to cover. They essentially made a single song that could easily be an album and it has every one of the transition pieces you are looking for and then some. It's one of the greatest achievements in punk music and musicians are consistently drawn to it for a reason. Hell there's even a live version with Baz's orchestra at Red Rocks that absolutely rules also. Loving all the punk breakdowns 🍻
I've been listening to punk for over 25 years and I am loving your discovery of it. It's easy to assume it's all three chords and crude but you're having the same reactions many of us did years ago when we first heard these songs. I'd like to point you towards Slapstick, a ska punk band active from '93 to '96 in Illinois. Thoroughly enjoying this!
You may not know slapstick but I'm sure you know some of the members of the band. It has Brendan Kelly from the Lawrence arms and Dan Andriono from Alkaline Trio. It's an operation inspired ska band that uses pretty heavy vocals and great baselines. I also agree, I've been in the punk scene for a long time but I'm really enjoying someone else discovering it and finding some really good music.
Holy hell, I remember Slapstick! And I'm from CA lol! They actually used to get some pretty decent airplay on a local Fresno rock radio station that did a Ska/Ska Punk show on the weekends when that was blowing up in the 90s! Oh man, I had forgotten about them. Thank you!
The Death of John Smith by NOFX also has an amazing bass intro and some interesting parts where the bass stands out through the song. Definitely worth checking it out.
You should definitely check out some descendents. Tony Lombardo (their original bassist) and Karl Alvarez (their bass player since 87 are both incredible at coming up with very intricate hooky bass parts Myage is probably the best example in their early work
The lyrics are damn good too. I only discovered that song recently and I was I amazed when I learn that it was written in 1999. It's like the song predicts everything that has gone wrong ever since then.
Better Off Dead by Bad Religion. The Godfathers of punk who influenced so many punk and mainstream artists. Even Pink quotes BR as one of her big influences.
Matt and Mike are the two best bassists of the genre, in fact Rancid and NOFX have a joint album called "Byo Split Series Vol 3" where Rancid does NOFX's songs and NOFX does Rancid's songs, uniting these two bands with these two great bassists is crazy, I recommend you listen to that album, it will blow your mind. Greetings from Argentina ❤️
NoFX is straight skate punk but they love to throw in some ska on a few tracks, like this one. And that's the Mel Yell from the rhythm that guitarist Eric Melvin
Definitely check out NOFX "The Death of John Smith" you'll love it, the bass is very much the lead the entire song, also it's 3:30 long and very dynamic
That's another of many bass intros from fat Mike that I could never truly get down lol. His shit is so hard to play it frustrates the shit out of me cuz I've loved their music for over 20 years and have played bass for over 20 years lol.
Most talented punk band. Great playing, and song writing. Each person in the band is a top notch player. They consistently put out great music, and are just as good live.
Do the decline by nofx! It's long but u won't be disappointed. I was part of the music video for the seeing double at the triple rock and after all the shooting was done the band played a free show for every one and they closed with the decline!
More NoFX!! Im not sure how often the bass lines alone will make a song impressively unique, but certainly i appreciate your breakdown of the music overalls
You mentioned A Wilhelm Scream at the end of this video! Check them out! Their bassist has great technique and is a finger player, which is pretty rare in punk rock. “The Horse” has some really great finger-tapping throughout the song. I can’t think of many punk songs with finger-tapping. Tons of their songs have really great bass lines though. One of my favorites!
I found the channel because Mike posted on Facebook about this video. He seemed pretty proud he stumped you with his playing. So I guess you gotta do another NoFx video now!
Fun fact: Fat Mike also plays bass in a punk rock supergroup called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and they turn non-punk songs into punk classics! The band is comprised of Fat Mike on bass, Spike Slawson (bassist and backing vocals for The Swingin’ Udders) on vocals, Chris Shiftlett (guitarist from The Foo Fighters, the one who is not Dave Grohl) on lead guitar, and David Raun (drummer of Lagwagon) on drums. Essentially it’s a side project for all the members of the band, and it’s really fun, feel-good pop punk. For bass, I’d recommend listening to one of these songs that you know the original to: “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (by Johnny Cash), “East Bound and Down” (by Jerry Reed for the Smoky and the Bandit movie), “Phantom of the Opera” (from the play), “Science Fiction Double Feature” (Rocky Horror Picture Show), “Cabaret” (from the play), or “Natural Woman” (by Aretha Franklin). Fun stuff!
As others have mentioned, there are videos of Mike showing how he plays this part. It's like a sweep pick circular thing, I tried learning it and it's very weird but very cool. Basically start with an upstroke and then a downstroke on the D string, then upstroke on the G string, then follow through with an upstroke on the D string, and it goes on from there. No idea how he came up with it. XD He does the same technique throughout the song Suits And Ladders as well, or if you don't wanna get to the certain part in The Decline, he basically does the same gimmick as that song in the intro of The Death Of John Smith. Mike also uses like .60mm picks, and he's explained why in a video or two. NOFX is one of my favourite bands, they were a big influence on bands like Blink-182 and you can tell. They have the pop sensibility, but the songs, especially the lyrics, are really clever and sophisticated. They're definitely a band worth diving into.
@@LowEndUniversity Maybe we are enjoying seeing you discover this music because your genuine reactions and appreciation remind us of when we discovered it. Fun to see! 🤙
Mike is one of my biggest bass influences. I love that he uses higher frets and chords a lot in his work. Also that is not a delay he is playing thst note for note but even he struggles to play it now.
@@levonlarson4048 yup. And like 2/3rds of the times they play it. I was at that show, BTW. Amazing. Going to be in Madrid (where I live anyway) in May.
My buddies had a hard time selling me on NOFX just because they sounded so polished but when I actually took the time to listen, Aw man I was all IN. Love em!
I'm really digging that you're diving into punk rock. The bass in punk is essential, never just a back ground instrument. For another NOFX song, try "We Threw Gasoline On the Fire and Now We Have Stumps for Arms and No Eyebrows" it's got another great bassline and some interesting techniques I think you'll enjoy, but also, just look at that name!!!! (btw, NOFX is known for a lot of their crazy song titles) They're a fun band. th-cam.com/video/1POOuPPbCws/w-d-xo.html
Since we have decided to do the NOFX rabbit hole, I recommend “The Decline” as everyone else has said and I said in another video before too. Great song and bass lines but also how it’s composed from a theory standpoint. Mike likes to use parallel keys a lot in his compositions. So he will be in a major key and then go to its parallel minor a lot and vice versa. Also another song on the “War on Errorism” record that Idiots Are Taking Over comes from I recommend listening to is “Whoop’s I OD’d”. I believe I recommended that on another video too. Bass chords all over that song. Mostly just bass and vocals on the album version I believe. They change it up live of course with full band though.
"It's my job to keep punk rock elite" and "Kids of the K-hole" are two songs you can listen and analyse Fat Mikes's technique (also are amazing punk rock songs)
Fuck yeah - Especially anything off of Career Suicide, but 5 to 9 or The Horse in particular. Just filthy bass playing all around. That band plays complex stuff and does it so tightly.
As a punker and guitarist of 25 years this made me emotional as I remember coming home from middle school pre internet plugging in my old fender strap and playing nofx and bad religion cds over and over as I figured out how to play….ear training is absolutely the best…I remember I went to South America the summer of 1996 with only dookie, vitality, and the slice of lemon compilation and must have listened to those cds at least 200 times each
There is no delay. It is absolutely his circular strum pattern. I’ve seen interviews where he talks about using very thin picks so he can do this. It starts as the upstroke but it’s almost a continuous up and downstroke. Very weird, but awesome!
It's a long one, but you gotta do "The Decline", by NOFX. Or "Whoops, I O.D.'d" , if you wanna go the shorter route. "The Decline" is a MASTERPIECE though. Fat Mike is one of my favorite songwriters of ANY genre. He doesn't really follow any rules.
Don't know if they've been featured on this channel, but the Subhumans (UK) had some great basslines. Some of my favorites: British Disease, Heads of State, Joe Public, Somebody's Mother, Worlds Apart, ...to name a few.
So proud of you for digging into the punk dude. There's really some buried gems in this proverbial dumpster lol. Also nah, there's no delay on that. Mike is known for having a feather touch with that pick. That's where a lot of his overall tone lays, in his approach. Edit: Yeah, there's a LOT of humour in NOFX as a side note. They're worth a further look for their musicianship as well as their approach.
The decline as I’ve seen mentioned a lot is a fantastic show of nofx’s diversity. If I had throw in another Rancid song I would suggest White Knuckle Ride. Hell of a bass line through that one as well.
Been loving NOFX since '94, always great to see someone getting into their music for the first time. Unfortunately, JUST missed the opportunity to see them live since they just disbanded, but at least it was with all band members on good terms and a fantastic final tour.
The Sticking In My Eye intro from NOFX is pretty classic as well. Recommend checking out the crossover BYO album split NOFX did with Rancid where Matt Freeman plays his own version of it
I've heard Fat Mike speak on a few podcasts. In the No Treble podcast, he talks about using a really thin pick to play triplets and adding/writing the bass parts after the rest of the song. In the Chris DeMakes A Podcast episodes, he talks about how he doesn't like to repeat himself which is why you hear those different chord choices. As far as song punk/ska recommendations. Forty Days by Streetlight Manifesto or Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less Than Jake.
The horse has two handed, tapping, lightning fast runs, Fingerstyle playing, and all without neglecting low, end responsibility, and locked in super tight with fast drums
When listening to "its not all about you" by face to face, I instantly thought of you, I would love to hear you run through it, honestly such a great song. Keep up the great work bro ❤
Hi Low End University. Just discovered the channel recently and love it. I’m a fellow bass player of 22 years and have been playing punk since I started. As far as NOFX songs, I’d really recommend you breaking down “The Decline”. It’s an 18 minute track with no repetitious verses or chorus. There is no other song like it. I would love to see you explain how someone could write an 18 minute song with all of the intricacies of NOFX. And, even though it would be a LONG video, I guarantee it would get you the views to make it worth your time. I’d also strongly recommend you do a breakdown of a song by another punk band named Face To Face. But, ensure that it features their second bass player, Scott Shiflett. I would suggest either “I’m Trying” or “Disconnected” but you would have to check out the “Live From Hurley Studio” videos on TH-cam in order to get Scott. If you do the album versions it will be another bassist.
I recommend these 6 songs: 180 Degrees: a dynamic intro with an super fast punk riff interrupted by a very special ska rhythm, amazing bassline. Philthy Phil Philantropist: the construction of the song is brilliant, and where else could you hear xylophone in a punk song except in NOFX 😅 All Outta Angst: ska song with amazing walking bass line. Eddie, Bruce & Paul: tribute to Iron Maiden with amazing riffs, basslines, and guitar solo. My Heart Is Yearning: "love"mid ska-reggae song with trumpet and TENOR VOCALS from lead guitarist El Hefe. I Am An Alcoholic: jazzy, walking bassline, punk et trumpet. I think these songs won't be recommended much but they are all very special with an excellent bassline inside, which I know is the heart of these videos. Thank you for your videos which I really appreciate, it's a pleasure to see you dissect the songs because you really have a very good ear. And sorry for my broken English 😅
NoFX were one of the bands that got me into punk as a teenager. Absolutely love them. As far as their songs go Eat the Meek probably has my favourite basslines and tone from Mike. It's basically a reggae song
Big into punk in the late 90s and early 2000s but haven't really stuck with it, with the exception of one band. NOFX! By far my favorite punk band. Just love the humor in their music and so unique. I still throw on "Thank god it's Monday" on 3 day weekends, when I get a Monday off work.
Flossing A Dead Horse, has a great jazzy walking bass in it. Also The Decline has a lot of great bass moments. But you're right, Fat Mike has a very singer-songwriter way of writing songs and he's all about interesting chrod progressions.
The original bassist from a little known band Tub Ring is the craziest bassist I've ever seen live. They are sort of experimental rock with punk rock roots and influence. Jason Fields was nuts. The parts were interesting and fast and he was all over the place live. Running around and dancing nonstop making the playing even more impressive. It would be cool to see you check out a band not a lot of people know about. The song Invalid has some really cool bass parts.
My 13 year old daughter got a bass for Christmas. This is one of our favorite NOFX songs. They have been my favorite band since like 1990. You my friend just got a new subscriber.
Amazing!! I wish I had gotten into punk at that age, but it was just mostly classic rock (which still taught me a lot). I hope she had a great Christmas, and has plenty of inspiration with that new bass. Thanks for the sub!!
@@LowEndUniversityThank you for the reply! I listen to a lot of classic rock as well. My music taste is all over the place lol. Loving your videos and I told the kiddo about your channel.
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It’s a two string triplet. Also the verse is a 7 chord progression with the 4th chord being the most interesting. Listen to Suits and Ladders. That bass line is pretty cool
^The man himself. Doesn't get any better than word direct from the punkhorse's mouth(?).
Rad! Thanks for the request @fatmikedude 😉
th-cam.com/video/24NrryYA0oo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=zAfXZteggtDiHc_X
Suits and ladders with him playing it.
@@LowEndUniversitythis too. I also posted him playing suits and ladders like he recommended. th-cam.com/users/shortstPqp9Ct8di0?si=V8SPJ7Q0UUxlwVFp
He shows how he plays this song in this vid...around the 3.26 mark.
th-cam.com/video/DaWflCPlupc/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Loudwire
I don't think there's a delay. Mike has a very particular circular picking technique that he invented to play lines like these. I know some other people have already mentioned it, but The Decline has some incredible bass lines. It's also an 18-minute song, so I'd understand if you can't cover that. But it's worth it. One of the best punk songs ever made.
Correct. The idea of Mike using effects is funny to me, tbh.
He also plays with really soft picks that shapes the rhythm and sound
Upstroke triplets. You roll your wrist and pick in a circular motion.Beautiful technique. Uses them alot, sometimes at crazy speed. They have great chord progressions too. Fun to learn
@@anofsti yeah mostly so when you play the bass is always in tune for his style of playing.
The decline is a master piece. Even if you don't do a video on it, its worth listen.
Please just do The Decline. We all want it. it's one of the best 15+ minute songs.
Noted!
Sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whoops I OD’ed might give you some insight to Fat Mike
Sorry just heard you say A Wilhelm scream! Anchor end!
i would totally watch a long video of u breaking down the decline
The Decline is a punk rock masterpiece!
@@kqjensen123 came to say the same thing, glad someone else beat me to it.
I saw Mike play this live, took him three restarts to nail the intro, dropping to one knee for the last try seemed to do it. What a man, what a band, what a great song.
I saw him on an interview I think talking about his favorite songs and he had to restart a few times to get it down, once he’s got it going it doesn’t stop tho!
That’s nofx!
Chances are ‘high’ he had some altered body chemistry that was fighting him.
Mark Hoppus of Blink used to sit down to play one of the early songs off of Cheshire Cat, I gotnto hang out with him before they became famous and he said he couldn't play it standing up because it was too hard.
@@1thess523Carousel! I came here to say the same.
Don’t forget that he executes all of that WHILE singing! Fat Mike is a legend! El Hefe is an incredible lead guitarist. NOFX is one of the best punk rock bands of all time!
Not one of....The Best
Hefe is so good. Trumpet? Yeah got it. Lead guitar? Yep. Occasional trombone? Yep Perfect backup vox? Yep
Hefe’s ability to play off his dial is unreal.
@@scottholden1862 well, I guess "the best" relies heavily on the lyrics as well. And in that matter, NOFX is rather unusual punk rock. Personally, I love the dark humor, the cultural plays, the jokes about ethnicity, etc., but I can understand people who don’t. It’s impossible to compare Fat Mike’s songwriting to e.g. Joe Strummer. That’s why I said ‚one of’.
Hey lets give Melvins amazing yell and Smellys crazy drums some credit
Rich Kids on LSD (RKL) is one of the bands - if not the band - that influenced Fat Mike's bass playing the most. Extreme technical prowess and way, way ahead of their time when they released Rock & Roll Nigthmare in 1987. Still mindblowing to this day, with an unparallelled rhythm section. I'd recommend checking out the totally killer live version of "Blocked Out" (05:00 - 11:08 here th-cam.com/video/zzezFe5u3iw/w-d-xo.html) with Lil' Joe just destroying that headless Steinberger at the tender age of 18; alternatively "We're Back We're Pissed".
This definetly needs much more upvotes
RKL got so many hard melodic Bass lines. Bomer and Joe are just crazy on the Bass.
R.I.P Bomer and Jason
He's always said Steve Soto (RIP) was his biggest influence, but I can definitely hear the RKL influence heavy as well.
The most underrated hardcore punk band, Joe is a crazy bass player i cant have enough of watching him, to really see how crazy RKL was you have to see a live performance, that song "blocked out" is a great demonstration, i think you can hear the bass better on this version (th-cam.com/video/RjxqM5lPUxo/w-d-xo.html)
Fat Mike trying to play some of that here eheh (th-cam.com/video/zq6ahFgpYJc/w-d-xo.html)
Nardcore in general - those early albums are Nardcore albums before their albums became Bad Religion albums.
Hung out a bit with these guys back in the 90s...Joe and Bomber were super cool...They had a side band called "Slang" that I roadied for a bit...
The Decline. The Decline. The Decline. Live at Red Rocks gives a good visual of his playing style too.
There's a great video on TH-cam where Fat Mike plays some of his favorite basslines, shows how he does his triplet upstroke technique in The Idiot's are Taking Over.
Also "The Decline" is a must, it's long but worth it.
th-cam.com/video/DaWflCPlupc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=IzCrl5KEBDXfZSiV
Yeah love that video.
This one? th-cam.com/video/DaWflCPlupc/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Loudwire
3:28 is where he gets to this song
K.
Fat Mike is definitely a song writing and business genius. The lyrics are excellent too
I might recommend their song We ‘Threw Gasoline on the Fire and Now We Have Stumps for Arms and No Eyebrows’. I feel like that one really shows Fat Mike‘s range as a bass player.
Ohh, deep cut. Haven't heard that one in a while but for sure, one of their best 🤘
Hell yeah, great song. Takes me back to when I was in highschool blastin the Punk-O-Rama albums
All time fav nofx track right here
No lie I always used that in Hangman. It's tricky remembering where all the letters go though. You have to literally spell it out in your head. Way too many letters lol
Their whole Punk in Drublic album is a masterpiece
Heavy petting zoo! Pump up the Valium, thanks for the shoes, punk in drublic, war on errorism, white trash, two heebs and a bean, are the best albums!
as is Petting as is Shoes.
@@Beluga_Too agreed, but Punk in Drublic just feels more complete and put together. They were close with the previous two, but PID was the pinnacle
@@d00byhauser83 I could agree with that
@@d00byhauser83I remember hearing that for the first time back in 95 and being absolutely blown away. Though personally I'd have to say my favourite album is Heavy Petting Zoo. It's the one I relisten the most. For the longest time it was White Trash. Then Punk In Drublic. But Zoo is my jam. Freedom like a shopping cart, Philthy Phil, Black and White, Release the Hostages. Great stuff all round
The Decline is long but it's a masterpiece, there is also a live version they did with an orchestra which is really good. On the wierd picking in the intro he shows it in a loudwire interview which is also a good watch, its called NOFX's Fat Mike Plays His Favorite Bass Riffs the bit on the circle picking is on 3:30.
Absolutely 💯
Absolutely worth the time investment... you put it perfectly - it's a masterpiece
th-cam.com/video/DaWflCPlupc/w-d-xo.html
Wait until he listents to The Decline
I feel like musicians put down punk. So it’s amazing to see this and seeing your reaction to the legendary Fat Mike
nice to see NOFX getting some love. i still got my fingers crossed for "Night Letters" by Propagandhi. Todd Kowalski is an incredible bass player.
Yes please!
That's a great one, of many from them. Propagandhi needs some love. I think Natural Disasters would be perfect for this channel. Mr. Kowalski is all over the place on that one
I also love Todd’s amazing little solo in Failed Imagineer
@@bouzoukiman5000 oh yea, "natural disaster" is also a great choice!
Night Letters would be so sick! Honestly most of the bass lines in their last three albums would be incredible to watch.
"Is it slurred? "
Fat Mike usually is🤣
Some suggestions from NoFX and also the band Suicide Machines:
NoFX:
- The Quitter
- Release The Hostages
- The Malachi Crunch
- All Outta Angst
- American Errorist
Suicide Machines:
- Hey
- High Anxiety
- Insecurities
- Break The Glass
Because of the length The Decline from NOFX may not be what you want to cover, but it's what you need to cover. They essentially made a single song that could easily be an album and it has every one of the transition pieces you are looking for and then some. It's one of the greatest achievements in punk music and musicians are consistently drawn to it for a reason. Hell there's even a live version with Baz's orchestra at Red Rocks that absolutely rules also. Loving all the punk breakdowns 🍻
This
^ this this!
^ This this this!
This!!! X 4
Live at red rocks 🤯
Since you’re now into eighties California punk, Rick kids on lsd and lagwagon (a lot of the same musicians) has to be next
I've been listening to punk for over 25 years and I am loving your discovery of it. It's easy to assume it's all three chords and crude but you're having the same reactions many of us did years ago when we first heard these songs.
I'd like to point you towards Slapstick, a ska punk band active from '93 to '96 in Illinois.
Thoroughly enjoying this!
I’m not sure if I’ve heard of Slapstick, but I’m from Chicagoland so I’m gonna give them a listen as soon as this video is over!
You may not know slapstick but I'm sure you know some of the members of the band. It has Brendan Kelly from the Lawrence arms and Dan Andriono from Alkaline Trio. It's an operation inspired ska band that uses pretty heavy vocals and great baselines.
I also agree, I've been in the punk scene for a long time but I'm really enjoying someone else discovering it and finding some really good music.
Holy hell, I remember Slapstick! And I'm from CA lol!
They actually used to get some pretty decent airplay on a local Fresno rock radio station that did a Ska/Ska Punk show on the weekends when that was blowing up in the 90s!
Oh man, I had forgotten about them. Thank you!
Man Slapstick was so good.
Mikes and Hefes voices singing harmony is sooo good! They comfort me for 30 years now ❤️
Except Spike Slawson has sang the harmonies on every album since SLATFATS.
You can listen Scott Shiflett from Face to Face, that are very talent guy too. Try Bent But Not Brokenm, the bass line is amazing.
this song is really good choice
All these folks are on it, The Decline has amazing bass runs, riffs and lines. It’s a masterpiece. Really, the entire band rips on that one
The Death of John Smith by NOFX also has an amazing bass intro and some interesting parts where the bass stands out through the song. Definitely worth checking it out.
You should definitely check out some descendents. Tony Lombardo (their original bassist) and Karl Alvarez (their bass player since 87 are both incredible at coming up with very intricate hooky bass parts Myage is probably the best example in their early work
Bass players rule punk rock in my opinion.
Absolutely. I'm more familiar with Karl Alvarez, but both are awesome.
Completely agree with whoever said A Wilhelm Scream. Definitely check out their song The Horse
I said the same!
I'm a drummer, but am really enjoying your vids on punk bands. I just love seeing your face light up as these songs progress. Good times! Cheers!
Do The Decline for sure. It’s the GOAT of all prob songs and probably the only punk prog song ever written.
The lyrics are damn good too. I only discovered that song recently and I was I amazed when I learn that it was written in 1999.
It's like the song predicts everything that has gone wrong ever since then.
Better Off Dead by Bad Religion. The Godfathers of punk who influenced so many punk and mainstream artists. Even Pink quotes BR as one of her big influences.
Matt and Mike are the two best bassists of the genre, in fact Rancid and NOFX have a joint album called "Byo Split Series Vol 3" where Rancid does NOFX's songs and NOFX does Rancid's songs, uniting these two bands with these two great bassists is crazy, I recommend you listen to that album, it will blow your mind. Greetings from Argentina ❤️
Duuuude such a good recommendation! Didn't even think about it, but it's one of my favorite BYO splits by far
That album is fucking MINT.
Rancid's version of "Bob" is astounding.
Listen Face To Face, Scott Shiflett is a monster of melodic punk bass lines!
my fave band ever. Matt was also amazing on the first few records
The bass line on suits and ladders is also top tier quality. It always amazes me the stuff fat mike comes up with.
NoFX is straight skate punk but they love to throw in some ska on a few tracks, like this one. And that's the Mel Yell from the rhythm that guitarist Eric Melvin
Definitely check out NOFX "The Death of John Smith" you'll love it, the bass is very much the lead the entire song, also it's 3:30 long and very dynamic
That's another of many bass intros from fat Mike that I could never truly get down lol. His shit is so hard to play it frustrates the shit out of me cuz I've loved their music for over 20 years and have played bass for over 20 years lol.
Second this, incredible bass work just on its own…..never mind singing at the same time!
I would highly recommend listening to the entire album "So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes" for those weird chord changes and progressions.
That's my favorite Fat Mike bass tone and Propagandhi Less Talk has the same twangy bass tone as well 👍
Easily my favorite!
I'd recommend checking out "We Threw Gasoline on the Fire and Now We Have Stumps for Legs and No Eyebrows", its got some impressive bass playing.
You mentioned A Wilhelm Scream. The Horse for sure is a great place to start! Love this video
Most talented punk band. Great playing, and song writing. Each person in the band is a top notch player. They consistently put out great music, and are just as good live.
Do the decline by nofx! It's long but u won't be disappointed. I was part of the music video for the seeing double at the triple rock and after all the shooting was done the band played a free show for every one and they closed with the decline!
More NoFX!! Im not sure how often the bass lines alone will make a song impressively unique, but certainly i appreciate your breakdown of the music overalls
He's quite the lyricist too. Very clever with not only his words, but his phrasing and syllable breakups.
"Bleeding Heart Disease" has some of the funniest, puntastic, most clever lyrics of the entire NOFX catalogue.
You mentioned A Wilhelm Scream at the end of this video! Check them out! Their bassist has great technique and is a finger player, which is pretty rare in punk rock. “The Horse” has some really great finger-tapping throughout the song. I can’t think of many punk songs with finger-tapping. Tons of their songs have really great bass lines though. One of my favorites!
Dont get me started …. Fuuuqqq hes good. And a super nice guy. As are all of them
RKL's bassist is criminally underrated too
I found the channel because Mike posted on Facebook about this video. He seemed pretty proud he stumped you with his playing. So I guess you gotta do another NoFx video now!
Shower Days off of the album Ribbed has a great bass line.
The Irrationality of Rationality from the same album is pretty fun and you can hear the bass pretty well
Just wanna say that The Decline is the greatest punk song of all time and the bass throughout the entire 18 minutes is fucking incredible
Propagandhi - Failed Imagineer
Very smooth very subtle but has that insane punk energy
A Wilhelm Scream is the business, tons of bass solos and bass tapping, give it a go!
The most underrated band on the planet
Fun fact: Fat Mike also plays bass in a punk rock supergroup called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and they turn non-punk songs into punk classics! The band is comprised of Fat Mike on bass, Spike Slawson (bassist and backing vocals for The Swingin’ Udders) on vocals, Chris Shiftlett (guitarist from The Foo Fighters, the one who is not Dave Grohl) on lead guitar, and David Raun (drummer of Lagwagon) on drums. Essentially it’s a side project for all the members of the band, and it’s really fun, feel-good pop punk. For bass, I’d recommend listening to one of these songs that you know the original to: “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (by Johnny Cash), “East Bound and Down” (by Jerry Reed for the Smoky and the Bandit movie), “Phantom of the Opera” (from the play), “Science Fiction Double Feature” (Rocky Horror Picture Show), “Cabaret” (from the play), or “Natural Woman” (by Aretha Franklin). Fun stuff!
They started out with Fat Mike & plenty of albums recorded with him on bass, but CJ Ramone has been playing bass for them for a while now.
@@JulieMcCombs do you mean when playing live, or also for studio recordings?
Great break down! "Whoops, I Od'd" off the same album is a great one too :)
As others have mentioned, there are videos of Mike showing how he plays this part. It's like a sweep pick circular thing, I tried learning it and it's very weird but very cool. Basically start with an upstroke and then a downstroke on the D string, then upstroke on the G string, then follow through with an upstroke on the D string, and it goes on from there. No idea how he came up with it. XD
He does the same technique throughout the song Suits And Ladders as well, or if you don't wanna get to the certain part in The Decline, he basically does the same gimmick as that song in the intro of The Death Of John Smith. Mike also uses like .60mm picks, and he's explained why in a video or two.
NOFX is one of my favourite bands, they were a big influence on bands like Blink-182 and you can tell. They have the pop sensibility, but the songs, especially the lyrics, are really clever and sophisticated. They're definitely a band worth diving into.
A key part to his sound besides starting with upstrokes is he uses .60 mm nylon picks. I love the sound of a thin pick on some fresh roundwounds.
I love how all the heads are showing up to school this dude on good punk rock! And I love how much he appreciates it! 👏👏👏
Extremely unexpected, yet so much fun to read all the insight from everyone. I’m getting the crash course!
@@LowEndUniversity Maybe we are enjoying seeing you discover this music because your genuine reactions and appreciation remind us of when we discovered it. Fun to see! 🤙
Mike is one of my biggest bass influences. I love that he uses higher frets and chords a lot in his work.
Also that is not a delay he is playing thst note for note but even he struggles to play it now.
He screwed up this intro and started it over again at the last Barcelona show lol
@@levonlarson4048 yup. And like 2/3rds of the times they play it.
I was at that show, BTW. Amazing. Going to be in Madrid (where I live anyway) in May.
Mike is a super underrated bass player. He has a ton of really good basslines.
Nice to see some punk musicians getting recognition of their musical capabilities. The stereotypes of punk being easy is outdated
My buddies had a hard time selling me on NOFX just because they sounded so polished but when I actually took the time to listen, Aw man I was all IN. Love em!
I'm really digging that you're diving into punk rock. The bass in punk is essential, never just a back ground instrument.
For another NOFX song, try "We Threw Gasoline On the Fire and Now We Have Stumps for Arms and No Eyebrows"
it's got another great bassline and some interesting techniques I think you'll enjoy, but also, just look at that name!!!! (btw, NOFX is known for a lot of their crazy song titles) They're a fun band.
th-cam.com/video/1POOuPPbCws/w-d-xo.html
Since we have decided to do the NOFX rabbit hole, I recommend “The Decline” as everyone else has said and I said in another video before too. Great song and bass lines but also how it’s composed from a theory standpoint. Mike likes to use parallel keys a lot in his compositions. So he will be in a major key and then go to its parallel minor a lot and vice versa. Also another song on the “War on Errorism” record that Idiots Are Taking Over comes from I recommend listening to is “Whoop’s I OD’d”. I believe I recommended that on another video too. Bass chords all over that song. Mostly just bass and vocals on the album version I believe. They change it up live of course with full band though.
Two players not to miss as you tour the realm of Punk: Rob Wright - NoMeansNo, and Larry Boothroyd - Victims Family/Saturn's Flea Collar/Hellworms
Oh NoMeansNo gotta appear on this channel!
Oh my god yes to Nomeansno!!
"It's my job to keep punk rock elite" and "Kids of the K-hole" are two songs you can listen and analyse Fat Mikes's technique (also are amazing punk rock songs)
A Wilhelm Scream definitely! The bass is insane!
Fuck yeah - Especially anything off of Career Suicide, but 5 to 9 or The Horse in particular. Just filthy bass playing all around. That band plays complex stuff and does it so tightly.
MORE OF THIS! MORE PUNK!
Thanks.
I heard you mention A Wilhelm Scream, those dudes are on another level technically. Especially the bass player.
For real…the entire band is amazing!
As a punker and guitarist of 25 years this made me emotional as I remember coming home from middle school pre internet plugging in my old fender strap and playing nofx and bad religion cds over and over as I figured out how to play….ear training is absolutely the best…I remember I went to South America the summer of 1996 with only dookie, vitality, and the slice of lemon compilation and must have listened to those cds at least 200 times each
Vitalogy
There is no delay. It is absolutely his circular strum pattern. I’ve seen interviews where he talks about using very thin picks so he can do this. It starts as the upstroke but it’s almost a continuous up and downstroke. Very weird, but awesome!
"Invented" so he is basically doing really sloppy sweepicking on bass.
Been super fun watching you get into this, thanks for uploading really great to have someone with the proficiency and not the pretension.
It's not a delay, nor off-time really. It's a pattern that's almost like sweep-picking quickly back and forth over the D&G strings.
If you go down the punk rabbit hole you will find amazing finds. Enjoy your journey
It's a long one, but you gotta do "The Decline", by NOFX. Or "Whoops, I O.D.'d" , if you wanna go the shorter route. "The Decline" is a MASTERPIECE though. Fat Mike is one of my favorite songwriters of ANY genre. He doesn't really follow any rules.
Don't know if they've been featured on this channel, but the Subhumans (UK) had some great basslines.
Some of my favorites:
British Disease,
Heads of State,
Joe Public,
Somebody's Mother,
Worlds Apart,
...to name a few.
So proud of you for digging into the punk dude. There's really some buried gems in this proverbial dumpster lol.
Also nah, there's no delay on that. Mike is known for having a feather touch with that pick. That's where a lot of his overall tone lays, in his approach.
Edit: Yeah, there's a LOT of humour in NOFX as a side note. They're worth a further look for their musicianship as well as their approach.
I’m just a simple punk and didn’t understand a thing you said but great video!
The decline as I’ve seen mentioned a lot is a fantastic show of nofx’s diversity. If I had throw in another Rancid song I would suggest White Knuckle Ride. Hell of a bass line through that one as well.
Mike is one hell of a punk bassist.
Melodic hardcore they call it. It's brilliant!
Melodic West Coast Hardcore more precisely 😁
Been loving NOFX since '94, always great to see someone getting into their music for the first time. Unfortunately, JUST missed the opportunity to see them live since they just disbanded, but at least it was with all band members on good terms and a fantastic final tour.
I know it’s nothing crazy But, I always loved Blink 182 - Carousel! That beginning is what got me into playing
The Sticking In My Eye intro from NOFX is pretty classic as well. Recommend checking out the crossover BYO album split NOFX did with Rancid where Matt Freeman plays his own version of it
Dude, Nofx is THE greatest band. they are a lot like the Beatles of punk rock..
just keep reacting to them, and good things will happen...
The Beatles of punk rock is really exaggerating, although NoFX is great
I've heard Fat Mike speak on a few podcasts. In the No Treble podcast, he talks about using a really thin pick to play triplets and adding/writing the bass parts after the rest of the song. In the Chris DeMakes A Podcast episodes, he talks about how he doesn't like to repeat himself which is why you hear those different chord choices.
As far as song punk/ska recommendations. Forty Days by Streetlight Manifesto or Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less Than Jake.
He uses thin picks all the time. Dunlop nylon 0.60 mm picks
A Wilhelm Scream, The Horse
The horse has two handed, tapping, lightning fast runs, Fingerstyle playing, and all without neglecting low, end responsibility, and locked in super tight with fast drums
Voice to text added extra commas
I’m glad you’re going down this rabbit hole. Authority Zero, Lagwagon and Pulley are all top tier bands to check out as well.
When listening to "its not all about you" by face to face, I instantly thought of you, I would love to hear you run through it, honestly such a great song. Keep up the great work bro ❤
I love face to face.
Hi Low End University. Just discovered the channel recently and love it. I’m a fellow bass player of 22 years and have been playing punk since I started. As far as NOFX songs, I’d really recommend you breaking down “The Decline”. It’s an 18 minute track with no repetitious verses or chorus. There is no other song like it. I would love to see you explain how someone could write an 18 minute song with all of the intricacies of NOFX. And, even though it would be a LONG video, I guarantee it would get you the views to make it worth your time.
I’d also strongly recommend you do a breakdown of a song by another punk band named Face To Face. But, ensure that it features their second bass player, Scott Shiflett. I would suggest either “I’m Trying” or “Disconnected” but you would have to check out the “Live From Hurley Studio” videos on TH-cam in order to get Scott. If you do the album versions it will be another bassist.
No delay. All skill. There’s tons of footage of Fat Mike playing it live
Live and drunk
@@ekinn3The cocaine helps
@@ekinn3, yes always. And high.
Almost like there’s no effects
I recommend these 6 songs:
180 Degrees: a dynamic intro with an super fast punk riff interrupted by a very special ska rhythm, amazing bassline.
Philthy Phil Philantropist: the construction of the song is brilliant, and where else could you hear xylophone in a punk song except in NOFX 😅
All Outta Angst: ska song with amazing walking bass line.
Eddie, Bruce & Paul: tribute to Iron Maiden with amazing riffs, basslines, and guitar solo.
My Heart Is Yearning: "love"mid ska-reggae song with trumpet and TENOR VOCALS from lead guitarist El Hefe.
I Am An Alcoholic: jazzy, walking bassline, punk et trumpet.
I think these songs won't be recommended much but they are all very special with an excellent bassline inside, which I know is the heart of these videos.
Thank you for your videos which I really appreciate, it's a pleasure to see you dissect the songs because you really have a very good ear.
And sorry for my broken English 😅
People call it “pop-punk”, but they called themselves “melodic hardcore”
Which makes much more sense!
NoFX were one of the bands that got me into punk as a teenager. Absolutely love them. As far as their songs go Eat the Meek probably has my favourite basslines and tone from Mike. It's basically a reggae song
Oh god ! Mark is lost in the punk side of the force 😂
Big into punk in the late 90s and early 2000s but haven't really stuck with it, with the exception of one band. NOFX! By far my favorite punk band. Just love the humor in their music and so unique. I still throw on "Thank god it's Monday" on 3 day weekends, when I get a Monday off work.
That musical freedom only punk rock gives you!! Been listening to nofx my whole life.
I'll also throw in another vote for NOFX - The Decline. If you really want to get the best view of Fat Mike's bass playing, that's the one to do.
Flossing A Dead Horse, has a great jazzy walking bass in it. Also The Decline has a lot of great bass moments. But you're right, Fat Mike has a very singer-songwriter way of writing songs and he's all about interesting chrod progressions.
The bass line in No by Subhumans(uk) is a classic too
The original bassist from a little known band Tub Ring is the craziest bassist I've ever seen live. They are sort of experimental rock with punk rock roots and influence. Jason Fields was nuts. The parts were interesting and fast and he was all over the place live. Running around and dancing nonstop making the playing even more impressive. It would be cool to see you check out a band not a lot of people know about. The song Invalid has some really cool bass parts.
Love these Punk bassist videos. I’m a drummer and love punk music but these videos are amazing. They seem to be getting good views also.
My 13 year old daughter got a bass for Christmas. This is one of our favorite NOFX songs. They have been my favorite band since like 1990. You my friend just got a new subscriber.
Amazing!! I wish I had gotten into punk at that age, but it was just mostly classic rock (which still taught me a lot). I hope she had a great Christmas, and has plenty of inspiration with that new bass. Thanks for the sub!!
@@LowEndUniversityThank you for the reply! I listen to a lot of classic rock as well. My music taste is all over the place lol. Loving your videos and I told the kiddo about your channel.
You bet! Doing my best to broaden mine, haha. See you around! 🙏🏼💙
Stickin in my eye is one of my favorite songs from NOFX!