Krist in Flipper

From late 2006 to the fall of 2008, Krist played bass in Flipper, the San Francisco band whose slow, noisy, sarcastic take on punk rock helped shape what later got called grunge. He toured with them in Europe and the U.S. and played on the band’s first new studio album in more than 15 years, Love, plus the live album Fight. Both came out in May 2009, a few months after he had left.

Flipper singer Bruce Loose in a striped shirt singing into a microphone at left, with Krist Novoselic in a black shirt playing bass and shouting at right
Bruce Loose (left) and Krist Novoselic on stage with Flipper in Seattle, June 2008. Photo: Steven Friederich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A band Krist already loved

For Krist, joining Flipper meant playing with a band he had idolized. Asked in his 2008 oral history which punk record first floored him as a teenager, he named Generic Flipper. Buzz Osborne had lent it to him, and Krist said it sounded strange the first two times and only won him over on the third play. He ranks it with the great Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin albums, says Kurt loved it too, and hears it in In Utero. Talking about the new Flipper album that same October, he said he hadn’t done work like it since In Utero (Washington State Legacy Project oral history). Nirvana wore the influence openly: when the band played Saturday Night Live on January 11, 1992, Kurt Cobain wore a homemade Flipper T-shirt (Louder).

Flipper before Krist

Flipper started in San Francisco in 1979, so 2009 was its 30th anniversary. Its single “Sex Bomb” (1981 by most counts; Pitchfork’s 2009 story says 1980) became an underground standard, and the band cut two studio albums with bassist and co-singer Will Shatter, Generic and Gone Fishin’ (Pitchfork). Shatter died in 1987. A third record, the Rick Rubin-produced American Grafishy, followed in 1993 (Punknews). By the time Krist arrived, three original members were still at it: singer Bruce Loose, guitarist Ted Falconi and drummer Steve DePace (antiMUSIC).

Krist joins (2006 to 2008)

Krist took over on bass in December 2006, when the band needed a bassist for a UK tour. Bruno DeSmartass had left a few months before (antiMUSIC, Rebel Noise). He stayed for about two years, playing shows in Europe and around the U.S. and working on new songs with the three original members.

Those songs became Love, recorded with Krist on bass and co-produced by Jack Endino, the Seattle engineer who had recorded Nirvana’s Bleach (Pitchfork). By the summer of 2008 Flipper were playing the new material on stage and lining up a fall tour; we covered it at the time in Flipper to release new record with Krist Novoselic and Flipper plays tunes from upcoming CD.

Leaving the band

In September 2008 Krist gave notice. He had decided that life on the road no longer fit, and he wanted to be at home in Washington; Flipper called off the tour that had been booked (HistoryLink, antiMUSIC). Our news post from that week is Flipper cancels entire tour, Krist Novoselic leaves the band. Rachel Thoele, who had played in Frightwig, Mudwomen and Van Gogh’s Daughter, took over on bass for the 2009 tours (Pitchfork, Rebel Noise). Krist stayed on good terms. In March 2009 he wrote back to DePace about the mastered album, “I don’t like it – I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!” (Rebel Noise).

Love and Fight (2009)

MVD Audio released both albums on May 19, 2009, to mark Flipper’s 30th anniversary. Love is ten new studio songs; Fight is a live set from the same era. Krist plays bass on both (Pitchfork, antiMUSIC). Reviews were kind. Punknews said Krist’s playing was the closest thing to Will Shatter’s bass the band had had since, pointed to the opening of “Night Falls” as an example, and ranked Love level with Gone Fishin’, behind only Generic (Punknews).

That summer Domino reissued Generic, Gone Fishin’, Sex Bomb Baby! and Public Flipper Limited in the UK, with new liner notes from admirers including Henry Rollins, Buzz Osborne of the Melvins and Krist himself (Pitchfork).

A note on dates: you will sometimes read that Krist left Flipper in 2009. The albums came out in 2009, but he left in September 2008. The press release we reposted at the time is dated “Sep. 17, 2009,” which looks like a typo for 2008.

More Flipper on this site

Last updated October 2026.