Bruce Loose, the vocalist and bassist of the prolific punk band Flipper and an influence of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, has died.
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Flipper’s drummer, Stephen DePace, confirmed the veteran musician’s death to Pitchfork. According to the outlet Loose, who had been recovering at home in Humboldt, California, after a stroke, is believed to have died of a heart attack on Sept. 5. He was 66.
Bruce Richard Calderwood was born in California to beatnik parents who occasionally took him to local shows. He joined Flipper after the founders, Russell Wilkerson (Will Shatter), Ted Falconi, and Steve DePace, removed original singer Ricky Williams for missing shows. Calderwood first used the stage name Bruce Lose before later changing it to Bruce Loose
Shatter and Falconi formed Flipper in the late 1970s Bay Area during the rise of hardcore punk. While they shared stages with bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys, Flipper stood out by combining heavy, noisy intensity with a groove-influenced style, reflecting their enthusiasm for both punk and the Grateful Dead.
A year after gaining attention for the nearly eight-minute single “Sex Bomb” in 1981, the band released its debut LP, Album – Generic Flipper, through Subterranean. The album’s hardcore punk style became a classic, inspiring many experimental rock bands with its unconventional approach.
How Kurt Cobain Tipped His Hat to Bruce Loose on SNL
Loose and Shatter shared vocals with a similar tone of despair, attracting a dedicated fan base with the same outlook. Among their fans was Kurt Cobain, who wore a homemade Flipper T-shirt on Saturday Night Live and in Nirvana’s “Come as You Are” music video.
The band released the album Gone Fishin’ in 1984 and some live records but ended after Shatter died from a drug overdose in 1987.
They reunited in the 1990s for a few shows and released the 1992 album American Grafishy on Def American. However, their momentum stalled again when Calderwood broke his back in a car accident in 1994.
He performed at their occasional concerts and contributed to the 2009 dual albums Love and Fight, which featured Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic (seen performing with Loose in the clip below).
In 2015, the band announced that Loose could no longer tour and David Yow of the Jesus Lizard would replace him.