Karl Matthew Alvarez (born March 10, 1964) is the bass guitar player for both the Descendents and All, the band that resulted after the Descendents disbanded again in 1987. Alvarez joined the Descendents after the Enjoy! album from his previous band The Massacre Guys, and played on all of the All albums, and the Descendents albums All, Everything Sucks and Cool To Be You. He plays finger style bass and provides backing vocals when live (and lead vocals as heard in "Cause" on the All Live Plus One album). Since joining the band he has been a major songwriter contributing many songs to All (both the album and the band), Everything Sucks and Cool To Be You. In the summer of 2006 he joined Gypsy Punk band Gogol Bordello for part of the Van's Warped Tour and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Karl currently plays guitar and sings in Underminer and the Vultures.
Since 2004 Karl has played with The Last along with Descendents/All drummer Bill Stevenson. He is currently a singer in a band called Underminer.
In 2006 Karl played on The Lemonheads self-titled comeback album which was released on Los Angeles' Vagrant Records.
During their last two Canadian tours (2007 and 2009, respectively), Karl filled on in bass for Canadian celtic-punk group The Real McKenzies.
Australian punk band Frenzal Rhomb wrote a song about Karl, on their 2011 album, Smoko At The Pet Food Factory, called 'Alvarez'.
Karl suffered a mild heart attack on August 11, 2007. He is now recovering and expected to tour with the Lemonheads later in 2007. A page has been set up to help cover medical expenses.
Famous quotes containing the words karl and/or alvarez:
“a big picture of K. Marx with an axe,
“Where I cut off one it will never grow again.”
O Karl would it were true
I’d put my saw to work for you
& the wicked social tree would fall right down.”
—Gary Snyder (b. 1930)
“Despite the hundreds of attempts, police terror and the concentration camps have proved to be more or less impossible subjects for the artist; since what happened to them was beyond the imagination, it was therefore also beyond art and all those human values on which art is traditionally based.”
—A. Alvarez (b. 1929)