November 23, 2014

Due to a shortened holiday week, the pickings are a little slim in the club listings, so I'm taking this opportunity to do a Thanksgiving Retrospective of some favorites from the past. I have selected from Square Pig's first year in two categories: Names that are still Hands-Down Brilliant and Bands that have Been on a Bill with Your Mother Should Know. Here's what I had to say way back when:

Hands-Down Brilliant


Eighteen Individual Eyes
(from November 13, 2010) I have delighted in this name for months, so I'm thrilled they came up this week. The inclusion of "individual" makes it for me -- it's not just "eighteen eyes" but "eighteen individual eyes."  Is this an eighteen-eyed creature, each eye functioning independently? Eighteen one-eyed creatures? A nine-piece band? It's also fun to say -- all those vowels just roll off the tongue.

Out Like Pluto
(from November 20, 2010) I like Pluto. I'm sorry it got demoted from the planet club. On the other hand, it's so far out, maybe it doesn't want to be in our lame club.

High Class Wreckage
(from January 8, 2011) Yay! I've been waiting for these guys to show up. This name trips off the tongue, yet feels like an oxymoron. Full disclosure: I've seen High Class Wreckage twice. Their shows are reliably loud, dumb, full-on fun. Expect high-jinks and physical contact. (Technically, HCW was on a bill with YMSK, but before my tenure so I'm not counting it).

Garage a Trois
(from April 16, 2011) The perfect relationship in the garage-band capital. Way to pull off a foreign-language pun! (I'm also amused that the band is a four-piece).

Gazebo of Destruction
(from May 14, 2011) This one belongs to the opposing images school of band names. "Gazebo" is refined, elegant, civilized. "Destruction" is everything but. It doesn't hurt that "gazebo" figures in a couple of running family jokes.



 On a Bill with Your Mother Should Know

Ancient Warlocks
(from February 5, 2011) This appeals to my fantasy-novel side. Music and fiction are the closest to magic we can get: something out of nothing. It also evokes Spinal Tap and their tiny Stonehenge, and that makes me smile.

Black Plastic Clouds
(from November 5, 2011) As if black clouds weren't threatening enough! Any mention of black plastic reminds me of the ultimately ineffective weed barrier the previous owner of our house used in the front yard. We were digging pieces of black plastic out of the ground for years.


Curtains for You
(from December 4, 2010) Full disclosure: I'd heard of this band years before I saw them at the Columbia City Theatre (which has a stage with actual curtains), and the keyboard player has visited my house. But I think I would list them even if that weren't so. I like how the name references another era and aspect of American pop culture. (I tend to pronounce it "coitains" like the gangsters in old Bugs Bunny cartoons.) 


Pouch
(July 2, 2011) I've been hearing about these guys and liked the name from the start. Pouch is one of those words that's fun and funny to say. (I'm planning to go hear them at EMP today, so it seemed like a good time to drop them into the blog.) I hope to see more bands named for hand luggage.

March 26, 2011

The first post of spring! Rain is falling, trees are budding, the grass is growing and it's too wet to mow. This week's list is a little shaggy that way, too: four bands and a lineup I'd like to see.


Dead Uncle Steamer, Dead Relatives, Death in the Family
What a dismal reunion this would be. (These bands are all playing at the Funhouse, and two of them appear with previous honoree Rat City Ruckus, so it's possible, even probable, that they already know each other or even share some personnel.)

Man Without Ax
What is a man without his ax? It's almost too sad to contemplate, especially in a rock band. Unless you're a tree, in which case, it's a dream come true. (Unfortunately, this seems to be typo in the listings -- it's actually Man Without Wax, which is not nearly as sad.)

Paper Machete
It starts out arts & crafts, and ends up a Robert Rodriguez flick. This kind of wordplay just makes me happy.

Sedna
I have a character named Sedna in the backstory of a science fiction novel, so I had to include this one. For my own sci-fi reasons, I'd like to see them on a bill with Out Like Pluto; if Pluto is out, Sedna's even further out.


Yarn Owl
The name sounds great, and evokes a macrame wall-hanging my mom made back in the '70s. I'm also charmed that the rest of the lineup includes The Brambles and Legendary Oaks. It's a nice forest vibe. They're probably happy about the man without ax.