Bassists are underrated—it’s the nature of the profession. Most people just don’t realize the skill that goes into creating a bassline—probably because there are so many bassists out there that get away with just playing the root notes of whatever the rhythm guitar is playing.
If you’re Paul McCartney you overcome this by playing other instruments—sometimes better than the other members of the band (ahem, Ringo)—and writing half the songs. But that’s not always possible—if you have an egomaniac (or just a songwriting genius) as a front man, you have to wait for your solo album for a chance at greatness.
Bash & Pop – “Friday Night (Is Killing Me)”
Friday Night Is Killing Me was the debut album of The Replacements’ (and now Guns N’ Roses member) Tommy Stinson; the group’s bassist and younger brother of late guitarist Bob Stinson. Stinson, a young teen when he joined the group, never seemed to earn the respect of Paul Westerberg, and although he did contribute some songwriting on the later albums, he never earned the respect of the critics either. His solo project, Bash & Pop, didn’t seem to change things—although the sound was not far removed from The Replacements sound, it added a bit more classic rock, mostly Faces and Stones, and a pinch of ‘90s alternative rock (which Stinson, in part, helped create), leading many critics to write it off with the overused phrase “bar-band rock.” That just begs one question, what the hell kind of a bar are these critics going to and how can I get in?
The Rentals – “Please Let That Be You”
Weezer bassist Matt Sharp’s solo-project The Rentals (which also featured Weezer drummer Pat Wilson) was a bit more controversial. Though it started out as an album of straight pop-rock songs, not unlike Weezer or That Dog—whose band members he borrowed for the project—Sharp became enchanted by the Moog synthesizers that Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo was using on his demos for Weezer’s second album, which, at the time was tentatively titled Songs from the Black Hole. Sharp decided to go back through his album and add layers of the analog synths, giving his pop songs a new wave, retro feel, which became a big part of the album’s success. However, despite the fact that Cuomo felt Sharp stole his thunder, and many reviews at the time concentrated on the Gary Numan-like feel of the album, Sharp’s songwriting is the real reason for the success of this album. Each song on the album Return of the Rentals managed to be just as good as anything Cuomo had written, although Sharp’s compositions were admittedly less complex and musically accomplished.
Wilco – “Too Far Apart”
Probably the most famous of this group—Tweedy wasn’t even bassist by the time Uncle Tupelo broke up (John Striatt was handling those duties), and he was co-writing (with Jay Farrar) most all of the songs and performing a good portion of them—but he still wasn’t getting the respect he yearned for. Tweedy took the entire line-up of the final incarnation of Uncle Tupelo with him to his new band, Wilco. Still, the expectations for Tweedy’s first album, A.M., were lower than those of Farrar’s new band Son Volt. The general consensus seemed to be that Tweedy’s songs had never been up to the standard of Farrar’s; this caused many people to make up their minds before they’d even given A.M. a chance.
That’s a shame because A.M. is actually a pretty great album, and you’ll find more than one Wilco fan who will say the group never improved on their debut—a country rock album in the tradition Neil Young and The Band. It wasn’t going for poignancy like Son Volt—it simply set out to be a set of great songs. The Young influence is especially prevalent on “Too Far Apart,” with a classic Shakey riff and the rest of the band busting it out, reckless and loose, like vintage Crazy Horse.