Bruce Loose, the snarling voice and bass behind San Francisco noise-punk legends Flipper, has died at 66 from an apparent heart attack. His death was confirmed by Flipper’s official Facebook and the “Who Cares Anyways SF” Instagram page.
Loose joined Flipper in 1979, replacing original singer Ricky Williams, and helped carve out the band’s signature sludge-punk sound alongside Will Shatter (who died in ’87). Flipper was loud, weird, and slow in all the right ways — a major influence on Nirvana, with Krist Novoselic even playing bass for a spell.
Loose stayed with the band until 2015. Since then, David Yow (Jesus Lizard) has handled vocals, but Bruce’s presence never left.
Rest easy, Bruce. Punk’s darker, dirtier, and better because of you.
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