Once again, a shameless plug: Your Mother Should Know, Canals of Venice, and the Spencer Glenn Band have a show at the Rendezvous on Thursday, September 4, 9:00 p.m. (Think of it as a Seahawks afterparty!) We're looking forward to playing in the Rendezvous's Jewelbox Theater, a nice little venue that I haven't visited in a while. https://www.facebook.com/events/714330995303737/
Meanwhile, I have perused the non-Bumbershoot listings and gleaned the following rich harvest:
Butt Dial
I appreciate this reference to a contemporary phenomenon that is accidental, potentially embarrassing . . . and completely unimaginable in the days when phones had actual dials. Which gets me to thinking: how long will we continue to call it dialing?
Ca$h Bandicoot
A long time ago, a certain young relative was constantly -- and vocally -- excited about a certain video game. This sly reference reminds us what it was really all about.
Kitten Vacation
I can't imagine that kittens need vacations, so this must be about a special resort where you drown your stress in cuteness. Or perhaps it's the other way: a complete fast from internet videos.
The Subpoenaed Lemur Vocoder Orchestra
The Subpoenaed Lemur is found in the same field guide as the Greater Plausible.
Swiss Patent Clerk
I will always have a place in my heart for band names based on ostensibly boring careers. I think I will start a band called Commercial Title Officer.
Naming a band is an act of concentrated creative expression. Square Pig in a Round Hole exists to reward five favorite band names each week. Winners are listed alphabetically. Selection is wholly unscientific and subject to whim, with a bias toward wordplay, humor, and local flavor. In most cases, I won't know anything about the bands at the time of selection. Thanks to the Seattle Times club listings for abundant source material!
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
August 23, 2014
Early Square Pig faves Ravenna Woods have an all-ages show at the Crocodile tonight, with Country Lips and friends-of-Your-Mother-Should-Know Mikey and Matty. $8, 8:00 p.m. Sounds like a fun show that I'm sorry to miss!!! More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1409996905906578/
Here's what I had to say about Ravenna Woods on December 4, 2010: I saw this band on the same bill with Curtains for You and can attest that they put on a great show. They make the list for neighborhood-level local flavor. In fact, the name implies that they're my neighbors.
And here's what I think about this week's picks:
The Goddamn Finkelstein Shit Kids
I like the implication that they've proudly claimed as their name an elderly neighbor's oft-repeated rant.
Internal Error
Mundane frustrations are elevated when converted to band names. In the same way, we transform our own inner mistakes and regrets into art.
Jesus on the Moon
This is timely for a reason few people would get, but I hope I can influence more so they will. "Epwa," my favorite story in Mermaids (the new YA story collection the Pankhearst Writers Collective) takes place in a floating community centuries after a catastrophic flood of an entire world. Random fragments of Catholic dogma have been blended with new mythology of water, moon goddesses, and an afterlife in the undersea palaces of the Mermadden. The Pilot, who knows more history and science than anyone else and is regarded as a heretic, tells the protagonist Hannah that a long time ago, men walked on the moons. At another time, she tells about a man who walked on water. Hannah wonders if they were the same man. The Pilot doesn't know -- but she thinks so.
Snakes of Christ
Not on the same bill with Jesus on the Moon, but they should be. Snakes get a bad rap in a lot of religious imagery, but they are God's creatures, too -- devouring vermin since the beginning of agriculture.
The Ukadelics
A happy accident of a common consonant sound bring together unlikely partners in a way that is not only fun, but obvious after the fact. I wanna go to this luau!
Here's what I had to say about Ravenna Woods on December 4, 2010: I saw this band on the same bill with Curtains for You and can attest that they put on a great show. They make the list for neighborhood-level local flavor. In fact, the name implies that they're my neighbors.
And here's what I think about this week's picks:
The Goddamn Finkelstein Shit Kids
I like the implication that they've proudly claimed as their name an elderly neighbor's oft-repeated rant.
Internal Error
Mundane frustrations are elevated when converted to band names. In the same way, we transform our own inner mistakes and regrets into art.
Jesus on the Moon
This is timely for a reason few people would get, but I hope I can influence more so they will. "Epwa," my favorite story in Mermaids (the new YA story collection the Pankhearst Writers Collective) takes place in a floating community centuries after a catastrophic flood of an entire world. Random fragments of Catholic dogma have been blended with new mythology of water, moon goddesses, and an afterlife in the undersea palaces of the Mermadden. The Pilot, who knows more history and science than anyone else and is regarded as a heretic, tells the protagonist Hannah that a long time ago, men walked on the moons. At another time, she tells about a man who walked on water. Hannah wonders if they were the same man. The Pilot doesn't know -- but she thinks so.
Snakes of Christ
Not on the same bill with Jesus on the Moon, but they should be. Snakes get a bad rap in a lot of religious imagery, but they are God's creatures, too -- devouring vermin since the beginning of agriculture.
The Ukadelics
A happy accident of a common consonant sound bring together unlikely partners in a way that is not only fun, but obvious after the fact. I wanna go to this luau!
Saturday, August 16, 2014
August 16, 2014
The downside of sticking with this project for going on four years: it was a bit of a challenge finding five band names to honor this week -- not because there weren't a lot of good ones, but because there were so many I had already chosen in the past. A couple more passes through the listings yielded the following:
Anxiety Fair
If Thackeray were writing today.
Bandalabra
In our 30-years-and-counting improv project, Banned Rehearsal, we grab every opportunity to make puns based on band or banned, but I don't think we've ever had cause to do this one. Coincidentally, I just watched Behind the Candelabra last night, so I can't help imagining some kind of Liberace connection.
Garlic Man and Chikn
Classic X and Y structure meets dinner! What's not to like? Bonus points for creative spelling.
Noi!se
I'm a big fan of punctuation in band names. The placement here is great fun and emphasizes the noisiness aspect.
The Plot in You
Fiction writers are often asked which is more important, plot or character. This implies that character is plot and plot, character.
Anxiety Fair
If Thackeray were writing today.
Bandalabra
In our 30-years-and-counting improv project, Banned Rehearsal, we grab every opportunity to make puns based on band or banned, but I don't think we've ever had cause to do this one. Coincidentally, I just watched Behind the Candelabra last night, so I can't help imagining some kind of Liberace connection.
Garlic Man and Chikn
Classic X and Y structure meets dinner! What's not to like? Bonus points for creative spelling.
Noi!se
I'm a big fan of punctuation in band names. The placement here is great fun and emphasizes the noisiness aspect.
The Plot in You
Fiction writers are often asked which is more important, plot or character. This implies that character is plot and plot, character.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
August 9, 2014
SHAMELESS PLUG: Your Mother Should Know is playing tomorrow night, Sunday, August 10, with Canals of Venice and Bucktoad at the Skylark Cafe, 3803 Delridge Way SW. We recently recorded a full-length album that we hope to release soon, and we'll be playing the whole thing live! 7:00 p.m., $5, all ages, and Skylark has great sound and great food!
Facebook event
Some other bands are playing this week, too. Here are a few of them:
Brain Drain
Brainoil
In Friday's club listings in the Seattle Times, Brain Oil is the first rock act listed and Brain Drain is the last. This implies that music lubricates your thinking, but what you add on Friday is only good for a limited time and should be drained and replaced weekly for best results.
A King Also
I love the way this comes across as formal yet offhand. "You are a king? I am a king, also." Or: "I'm a touring musician, and a king, also." Humble, but not too humble.
The Last Ten Seconds of Life
I hope I get to spend them making music, like Louis Vierne, who died at the console of the organ of Notre Dame. If not playing, then listening. Not a bad way to go.
Stop Light Observations
It sounds so scientific. There probably is a lot of useful data to be collected about vehicle and pedestrian traffic. But it's more likely a study of how many people are eating, texting, shaving, applying makeup, and rocking out when stopped at a light.
Facebook event
Some other bands are playing this week, too. Here are a few of them:
Brain Drain
Brainoil
In Friday's club listings in the Seattle Times, Brain Oil is the first rock act listed and Brain Drain is the last. This implies that music lubricates your thinking, but what you add on Friday is only good for a limited time and should be drained and replaced weekly for best results.
A King Also
I love the way this comes across as formal yet offhand. "You are a king? I am a king, also." Or: "I'm a touring musician, and a king, also." Humble, but not too humble.
The Last Ten Seconds of Life
I hope I get to spend them making music, like Louis Vierne, who died at the console of the organ of Notre Dame. If not playing, then listening. Not a bad way to go.
Stop Light Observations
It sounds so scientific. There probably is a lot of useful data to be collected about vehicle and pedestrian traffic. But it's more likely a study of how many people are eating, texting, shaving, applying makeup, and rocking out when stopped at a light.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
August 2, 2014
OK, now that the storm has passed and I can plug my computer back in, let's see about some band names:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
It's rare that I blog about a name big enough to headline a venue like the Crocodile. I like this relentlessly positive instruction for how to participate in a no doubt upbeat song. It works equally well as advice for dealing with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
The Finger Guns
I recently finished writing a short story about a girl who gains superpowers, including a fully functional finger gun. So let's be careful out there.
Free Salamander Exhibit
I like to imagine this name was usurped from a hand-printed sign for a low-rent roadside attraction. Or who knows, maybe there are actual amphibians in the band. Either way, it signals something interesting and unexpected.
Haints in the Holler
Pine Hill Haints
It's like an Ozark invasion! (Which wouldn't be a bad name for a band . . .) I was delighted to encounter these hillbilly usages in two separate shows in the same week. Downhome authenticity is implied.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
It's rare that I blog about a name big enough to headline a venue like the Crocodile. I like this relentlessly positive instruction for how to participate in a no doubt upbeat song. It works equally well as advice for dealing with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
The Finger Guns
I recently finished writing a short story about a girl who gains superpowers, including a fully functional finger gun. So let's be careful out there.
Free Salamander Exhibit
I like to imagine this name was usurped from a hand-printed sign for a low-rent roadside attraction. Or who knows, maybe there are actual amphibians in the band. Either way, it signals something interesting and unexpected.
Haints in the Holler
Pine Hill Haints
It's like an Ozark invasion! (Which wouldn't be a bad name for a band . . .) I was delighted to encounter these hillbilly usages in two separate shows in the same week. Downhome authenticity is implied.
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