Thanks to Spinning Whips, Ancient Warlocks, and Koko & the Sweetmeats for a memorable St. Patrick's Day! Now it's Saturday again, and time for a brand new list of winners.
Abandon Kansas
During tornado season, this is probably good advice. I love the balanced assonance of schwa, short a, schwa, short a, schwa that makes it fun and easy to say.
Dog Shredder
One of the resident cats thinks this applies to her. I imagine it's brutal and raucous.
Last of the Steam Powered Trains
I have an enduring soft spot for absurdly long band names, and for steam trains, so this was an easy pick.
The Mother Hips
I never noticed before how easily the sci-fi stalwart, "mother ship," can be transformed into a woman's ongoing struggle. Suddenly those hips seem cooler!
Potty Mouth Society
Juvenile humor gets organized. (I doubt we have much to worry about).
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, March 19, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
March 12, 2011
Lots of Irish-sounding acts in the listings for next week, but not in my post. This Square Pig will be heading out to the Columbia City Theatre on Thursday for Spinning Whips and Ancient Warlocks. I love it when my honorees team up!
The Lunasphere
Since childhood, I've had a special fondness for the moon. I think this may be because people went there before I started school, so I knew it could be done without knowing how hard it was. Now that I write sci-fi, my fondness has increased. The Lunasphere sounds like where I've been spending a lot of time lately, and only partly because it's so close to "lunacy."
People in the Future Recording Co.
I have a soft spot for absurdly long names like this one. And recorded sound is a form of time travel, but of people in the past. This will require some thought.
Pocket Panda
This is just so darned cute! Real pandas are adorable, but huge. A pocket version is genius. (Pocket Panda has been a runner-up several times before, so I'm glad to finally list them.)
Ravens Rant
All the corvids have extensive vocabularies, particularly suited for rants. I once wrote, "When a raven cast its bright, knowing eyes on a mere human, the contempt was palpable. The raven was no silly flutterer, hurrying here and there. Hearing the slow, deep whuooomh whuooomh of its wingbeats, any earthbound creature had to acknowledge that someone great had passed over." When you've been scolded by a raven, you know it.
A Silent Film
I love the audacity of a rock band with "silent" in its name. But film and music have had an intimate association from the start, so it really works.
The Lunasphere
Since childhood, I've had a special fondness for the moon. I think this may be because people went there before I started school, so I knew it could be done without knowing how hard it was. Now that I write sci-fi, my fondness has increased. The Lunasphere sounds like where I've been spending a lot of time lately, and only partly because it's so close to "lunacy."
People in the Future Recording Co.
I have a soft spot for absurdly long names like this one. And recorded sound is a form of time travel, but of people in the past. This will require some thought.
Pocket Panda
This is just so darned cute! Real pandas are adorable, but huge. A pocket version is genius. (Pocket Panda has been a runner-up several times before, so I'm glad to finally list them.)
Ravens Rant
All the corvids have extensive vocabularies, particularly suited for rants. I once wrote, "When a raven cast its bright, knowing eyes on a mere human, the contempt was palpable. The raven was no silly flutterer, hurrying here and there. Hearing the slow, deep whuooomh whuooomh of its wingbeats, any earthbound creature had to acknowledge that someone great had passed over." When you've been scolded by a raven, you know it.
A Silent Film
I love the audacity of a rock band with "silent" in its name. But film and music have had an intimate association from the start, so it really works.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
March 5, 2011
No theme this week, just another crop of great band names. A few of them would make great line-ups, so I've listed them together as single selections.
Atheist and Deicide
Of course, one who knowingly commits deicide cannot claim to be an atheist. But it would be fun to see these two battle it out: "There is no God" vs "There was a God, but I killed her."
Brahms and Conducting from the Grave
Conducting from the grave beats the heck out of rolling over in it.
The Flying Tortugas and The Whoopsie Daisies
These two really are on the same bill, next Thursday at the Blue Moon Tavern, and I wish I could be there. This kind of whimsy needs to be encouraged.
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
This is probably a bad idea, but saying it sure clears the phlegm.
The Shrapnelles
I try not to play favorites, but I have to admit this one is my favorite this week. I applaud the ability to evoke, in one word, Phil Spector's girl groups and shredding metal. This I've got to hear.
Atheist and Deicide
Of course, one who knowingly commits deicide cannot claim to be an atheist. But it would be fun to see these two battle it out: "There is no God" vs "There was a God, but I killed her."
Brahms and Conducting from the Grave
Conducting from the grave beats the heck out of rolling over in it.
The Flying Tortugas and The Whoopsie Daisies
These two really are on the same bill, next Thursday at the Blue Moon Tavern, and I wish I could be there. This kind of whimsy needs to be encouraged.
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
This is probably a bad idea, but saying it sure clears the phlegm.
The Shrapnelles
I try not to play favorites, but I have to admit this one is my favorite this week. I applaud the ability to evoke, in one word, Phil Spector's girl groups and shredding metal. This I've got to hear.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
February 26, 2011
The big news is that the Square Pig got out of the hole last Sunday and saw a great show at the Comet. Four bands, all strong and with pretty good names, too! The Downstrokes, The Blue Ribbon Boys, and Hollywood 77 all paid homage to late-'70s New York punk, with spirited Ramones covers and other music that was loud, fast, and raw. It warms my heart that people who weren't even born in 1977 appreciate music that no one else in my high school dug. (The Downstrokes also won me over with a great Ramonesque take on Sam Cooke's "Having a Party," one of my favorite songs from before I was born.) Meanwhile, High Class Wreckage was pure Seattle Sound: a little louder, a little faster, a little heavier than anyone else. Draw a straight line from the Sonics through Mudhoney and you hit High Class Wreckage.
Now for this week's list! Continuing last week's theme, these are all plural nouns. They all refer to ordinary things and lack the definite article. The sheer generalness makes them quirky.
Baths
Is this the mundane weekly chore, or the soothing luxury -- Saturday-night or bubble?
Braids
The strands come together to form a neat unit. Or do they?
Hotels
Luxury and pampering, or standardized anonymity?
Ships
Cargo, cruise, or space?
Swans
The least ordinary of the bunch. Swans are elegant, with a long literary and artistic pedigree, but also big and aggressive if provoked.
Finally, the Bands Who Should Have Been on the Same Bill but Weren't Award goes to:
Just Like Vinyl and The Broken Records.
Now for this week's list! Continuing last week's theme, these are all plural nouns. They all refer to ordinary things and lack the definite article. The sheer generalness makes them quirky.
Baths
Is this the mundane weekly chore, or the soothing luxury -- Saturday-night or bubble?
Braids
The strands come together to form a neat unit. Or do they?
Hotels
Luxury and pampering, or standardized anonymity?
Ships
Cargo, cruise, or space?
Swans
The least ordinary of the bunch. Swans are elegant, with a long literary and artistic pedigree, but also big and aggressive if provoked.
Finally, the Bands Who Should Have Been on the Same Bill but Weren't Award goes to:
Just Like Vinyl and The Broken Records.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February 19, 2011
Just for fun, this week's list has a theme. Every band name is a noun, singular. I like the idea of the band as a single unit, no matter how many members.
KITTEN
Seems cute and harmless, but oh! those little needle claws!
Llama
A young person of my acquaintance once wrote a short story for school in which the llama from Napoleon Dynamite (which I re-watched last night) runs away to Seattle and joins a gang of criminal llamas but is defeated during a chase in the bus tunnel when the side-mirror of a Metro bus takes the boss llama's head off. Maybe this is one of those llamas.
Mongo
"Mongo merely pawn in game of life." Thank you, Mel Brooks.
Princess
Sure, she's all sweet and pretty, but what's going on behind the throne? Royalty, like politicians, are not to be trusted.
Shim
Yes, this band has appeared before. Sue me. They fit the theme, and take it to the next level by being a monosyllable! As I said in my previous post, the word is fun to say and sounds much funnier than its actual meaning.
KITTEN
Seems cute and harmless, but oh! those little needle claws!
Llama
A young person of my acquaintance once wrote a short story for school in which the llama from Napoleon Dynamite (which I re-watched last night) runs away to Seattle and joins a gang of criminal llamas but is defeated during a chase in the bus tunnel when the side-mirror of a Metro bus takes the boss llama's head off. Maybe this is one of those llamas.
Mongo
"Mongo merely pawn in game of life." Thank you, Mel Brooks.
Princess
Sure, she's all sweet and pretty, but what's going on behind the throne? Royalty, like politicians, are not to be trusted.
Shim
Yes, this band has appeared before. Sue me. They fit the theme, and take it to the next level by being a monosyllable! As I said in my previous post, the word is fun to say and sounds much funnier than its actual meaning.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
February 12, 2011
AK-747s
This is one of those cultural mashups that goes by so fast that you think you know what it is until you realize you don't. Of course, the Boeing reference makes it local.
Big Wheel Stunt Show
Another name that I had been chuckling at for months before I started this blog. An extreme sport for preschoolers? I can hear those hard plastic wheels rattling down the sidewalk now . . .
Lazer Kitty
So that's what the glowing green eyes are.
Murder By Death
What could be nerdier than a Woody Allen reference?
The Spinning Whips
Full disclosure: I know somebody who knows a member of this group. The name sounds like something dangerous and fascinating.
This is one of those cultural mashups that goes by so fast that you think you know what it is until you realize you don't. Of course, the Boeing reference makes it local.
Big Wheel Stunt Show
Another name that I had been chuckling at for months before I started this blog. An extreme sport for preschoolers? I can hear those hard plastic wheels rattling down the sidewalk now . . .
Lazer Kitty
So that's what the glowing green eyes are.
Murder By Death
What could be nerdier than a Woody Allen reference?
The Spinning Whips
Full disclosure: I know somebody who knows a member of this group. The name sounds like something dangerous and fascinating.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
February 5, 2011
All Bets on Death
Taxes are a close second.
Ancient Warlocks
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.
Campfire OK
Signs are great band-name fodder -- the fewer words, the better. This one has a nice positive vibe, but campfires can get out of hand -- exactly what you want with a rock show!
No Bunny
. . . till some bunny loves you. Sweet, sad, and existential all at once.
The Velveteen Lotharios
Hilariously cheap. (Knowing nothing at all, I guessed "lounge," and I was absolutely right!)
Taxes are a close second.
Ancient Warlocks
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.
Campfire OK
Signs are great band-name fodder -- the fewer words, the better. This one has a nice positive vibe, but campfires can get out of hand -- exactly what you want with a rock show!
No Bunny
. . . till some bunny loves you. Sweet, sad, and existential all at once.
The Velveteen Lotharios
Hilariously cheap. (Knowing nothing at all, I guessed "lounge," and I was absolutely right!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)