Happy Halloween! As it happens, I didn't pick very many spooky-themed band names this week, either. Let's reach into the treat sack and see what we find:
1234
This Ramones tribute band has come up with the perfect name: bare bones, stripped down, no nonsense. And it quotes nearly every record!
The Diablotones
This one's kind of Halloweeny, and promises a fun party. The sinister opening is defanged by the classic cheesy-loungy ending.
Done Goners
Doomed, but with a folksy twang.
The Electric LandLadies
What is it with the well-named tribute bands this week? A meeting of the psychedelic and the mundane.
Microscopic Suffering
Either the most minor pain you can possibly feel, or else so bad even your microbes hurt.
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, October 31, 2015
Saturday, October 24, 2015
October 24, 2015
Next Saturday is Halloween, which means the coming week's club listings are stuffed like a trick-or-treat bag with spooky-themed shows. Today, I'm purposely avoiding any band names with ghost, witch, or blood in them, but I might change my mind next Saturday. I selected the following treats, instead:
Caddywhompus
I love colloquialisms, and this is one of my favorites. So much more fun to say than "not quite right," its syllables and thumping consonants have a nice beat.
Mrch
They say it's pronounced "march," so that's a fairly economical spelling. My first thought was "merch," which is funny because that's already short for something. Either is suitable for a gig: it's a beat, or it's T-shirts and records.
PORCH
I'm a fan both of singular monosyllabic nouns as band names, and also of porches. Porch season is over for another year, but it's a great place to make music on a warm summer night. Also, somebody get these guys on a bill with Square Pig faves Pouch!
Tygerrs Lair
Wyldernesse
How is it these two are not on the same bill? Not only do they both use beautiful Middle-Englishy spelling, but where would that lair be but in the wyldernesse? (This might be why: Tygerrs Lair is metal, while Wyldernesse is acoustic folk. Still . . .)
Caddywhompus
I love colloquialisms, and this is one of my favorites. So much more fun to say than "not quite right," its syllables and thumping consonants have a nice beat.
Mrch
They say it's pronounced "march," so that's a fairly economical spelling. My first thought was "merch," which is funny because that's already short for something. Either is suitable for a gig: it's a beat, or it's T-shirts and records.
PORCH
I'm a fan both of singular monosyllabic nouns as band names, and also of porches. Porch season is over for another year, but it's a great place to make music on a warm summer night. Also, somebody get these guys on a bill with Square Pig faves Pouch!
Tygerrs Lair
Wyldernesse
How is it these two are not on the same bill? Not only do they both use beautiful Middle-Englishy spelling, but where would that lair be but in the wyldernesse? (This might be why: Tygerrs Lair is metal, while Wyldernesse is acoustic folk. Still . . .)
Saturday, October 17, 2015
October 17, 2015
Vacation is winding down now, the highlight being last night's show at the Highline, with Salad Boys, Prom Queen, Ephrata, and longtime faves Red Ribbon. One of the best reasons to go hear a favorite band is the opportunity to hear two or three others that you haven't heard (or heard of) before. There was not a dud in the bunch! I can't stay out till 2 a.m. more than once in a great while, though, so much as I love the following names, they'll have to carry on without me.
Bears and Other Carnivores
Apparently I'm not the only one to notice that titles of field guides make great band names. (I would love to see a band called Squirrels of the West.) There's something a little (endearingly) off about using a name that evokes the outdoors, nature, and wilderness for a group that's probably going to mostly play in dingy urban bars. Also, I had a drink called "Bear" last night, and the interior of the Highline is like a lodge in a national park.
Isthmusia
Take a word that's awkward to sound out and transform it with two letters into a fantasy realm.
My Name Is You
Them Are Us Too
These both fall into a naming genre I call Pronoun Trouble. Both also imply, in a playful, goofy way, that we are all one. We're all in this together. Let's not screw it up.
Sardine Overdo
(I couldn't find any web presence for this band, so they must be new. The club listings had "overdose" but the event page and flyer both had "overdo," so I'm going with that.) Prelude to the best cat nap and worst morning breath ever.
Bears and Other Carnivores
Apparently I'm not the only one to notice that titles of field guides make great band names. (I would love to see a band called Squirrels of the West.) There's something a little (endearingly) off about using a name that evokes the outdoors, nature, and wilderness for a group that's probably going to mostly play in dingy urban bars. Also, I had a drink called "Bear" last night, and the interior of the Highline is like a lodge in a national park.
Isthmusia
Take a word that's awkward to sound out and transform it with two letters into a fantasy realm.
My Name Is You
Them Are Us Too
These both fall into a naming genre I call Pronoun Trouble. Both also imply, in a playful, goofy way, that we are all one. We're all in this together. Let's not screw it up.
Sardine Overdo
(I couldn't find any web presence for this band, so they must be new. The club listings had "overdose" but the event page and flyer both had "overdo," so I'm going with that.) Prelude to the best cat nap and worst morning breath ever.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
October 10, 2015
There's nothing like being at the beginning of a week's vacation to put me in a good mood, even if a lot of the week will be devoted to chores and errands. Looking forward, though, to Friday's show at the Highline: Salad Boys, Prom Queen, Ephrata, and longtime faves Red Ribbon! Meanwhile, there are bands playing all week, including these five:
Casual Hex
A single letter changes a no-strings hookup into something magical that perhaps hasn't been thought through all the way.
DEERPEOPLE
Wolf Antlers
These both fall under the category of weird animal hybrids, like the Jackelope. Are deerpeople like centaurs, with a human torso on a deer body, or an antlered deer head on a human body (which I'm pretty sure freaked me out at a Halloween party once when I was really small). Wolf Antlers could possibly be a disguise to help the predator slip unnoticed into the herd, but it might throw off their leap.
Photonic Boom
I haven't looked into the science, but I like that there's a term for the visual or audible phenomenon that would occur upon surpassing the speed of light.
Stiff Spirit
A strong drink . . . or what happens when the ghost suffers rigor mortis, too.
Casual Hex
A single letter changes a no-strings hookup into something magical that perhaps hasn't been thought through all the way.
DEERPEOPLE
Wolf Antlers
These both fall under the category of weird animal hybrids, like the Jackelope. Are deerpeople like centaurs, with a human torso on a deer body, or an antlered deer head on a human body (which I'm pretty sure freaked me out at a Halloween party once when I was really small). Wolf Antlers could possibly be a disguise to help the predator slip unnoticed into the herd, but it might throw off their leap.
Photonic Boom
I haven't looked into the science, but I like that there's a term for the visual or audible phenomenon that would occur upon surpassing the speed of light.
Stiff Spirit
A strong drink . . . or what happens when the ghost suffers rigor mortis, too.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
October 3, 2015
Blogging despite the best efforts of the Times to stop me! Formatting problems with the online edition made it frustrating to even find the band names, let alone read them, but with pen and paper, I prevailed. The struggle put me in a bad mood, which I hope blogging and a trip to the Macefield Music Festival will alleviate. To that end:
Bad Tats
This is a tiny poem to a regrettable idea: let's get drunk and immortalize our youthful indiscretions in our skin! What could possibly go wrong?
Gaytheist
Implying that perhaps God doesn't hate who some people think God hates. We happened to catch this band's cheerful hardcore set (I'm guessing at genre) at the Sunset last night. It was loud and hot and very entertaining, and did I mention loud?
hedgehag
I've seen references to both "hedge witch" and "hag" in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but I never put together the resemblance when combined to the name of the cute spiny critter. Good for October, though more homey charm than scares, and a fine name for an all-girl bluegrass outfit.
Ultimate Painting
Art as extreme sport.
Whiskerman
The addition of that "s" changes it from sinister to Ballard.
And guess what? I do feel better! Thanks, bands.
Bad Tats
This is a tiny poem to a regrettable idea: let's get drunk and immortalize our youthful indiscretions in our skin! What could possibly go wrong?
Gaytheist
Implying that perhaps God doesn't hate who some people think God hates. We happened to catch this band's cheerful hardcore set (I'm guessing at genre) at the Sunset last night. It was loud and hot and very entertaining, and did I mention loud?
hedgehag
I've seen references to both "hedge witch" and "hag" in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but I never put together the resemblance when combined to the name of the cute spiny critter. Good for October, though more homey charm than scares, and a fine name for an all-girl bluegrass outfit.
Ultimate Painting
Art as extreme sport.
Whiskerman
The addition of that "s" changes it from sinister to Ballard.
And guess what? I do feel better! Thanks, bands.
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