January 29, 2011

Weirdness, the comic potential of the definite article, and a couple of brief nostalgia trips . . .

Death by Steamship
This is not the way I want to go! It conjures two wildly different pictures: an absurdly elaborate execution; or a chance meeting in a dark alley that doesn't end well . . .
 
Erg
This has been one of my favorite science words since I learned it at age 12 from my older brother, who was taking Physics. It's a measure of work. And what noise do you make when you really work? Erg!

The Femurs
The bone name is too clinical to be really macabre, and it rhymes with "lemur". But it doesn't turn truly comic until you add the definite article. (As a band name, it doesn't hurt to have the same vowel, syllable, and accent pattern as the Beatles).

Mealfrog
This is just weird. I like weird.

Paul Lynde Fan Club
As a five-year-old in the late Sixties, I watched a lot of Bewitched reruns, and saw a lot of Paul Lynde. I thought he was hilarious. I'm stunned that anyone young enough to be in a band playing at the Comet has even heard of him! It renews my faith, if I ever had any, in syndicated TV.

January 22, 2011

One thing I love about doing this blog is that the good material just keeps coming, week after week. I see previous winners again, and also have the chance to select previous runners-up, but there also seems to be an ever-flowing fount of creative band names I've never seen before. This week, I list a mix of old favorites and names that were new to me.

Fan Fiction
Sometimes the names reveal rock music's geeky heart. As a writer and nerd myself, I respect and applaud anyone willing to fly their nerd flag high.
 
Goldie Wilson
I love Back to the Future. That is enough to get this one on the list.

The Luna Moth
I hope this is a reference to The Amazing Adventures of Kavilier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Because literary fiction about comic books has everything to do with rock & roll, and I mean that in all seriousness.

Ockham's Razor
A young person of my acquaintance cracks up whenever I mention this band's name, so in it goes. Why is the music world so full of science geeks?

Tea Cozies
Full disclosure: I've seen the band, bought the CD, put the sticker on our guitar case. The name charmed me before I ever heard the music. A tea cozy is old-fashioned and unnecessary, but a civilizing influence. Like . . . rock & roll? Hmmm . . . Anyway -- great name, great band, always happy to see them out and playing.

The Unfortunate Topical Relevance award goes to the lineup of The Buckets and Vaporland, in light of this week's news story of incredibly clueless motorists transferring gasoline from an open bucket directly into the carburetor of a running engine, resulting in a spectacular van fire and burn injuries to all three occupants. Take the bus next time.

January 15, 2011

This week's listings had past winner Curtains For You in a sold-out show opening for up-and-comers The Head and the Heart. I don't take all the credit, but I wish good things for all my picks.

Elk and Boar
I suppose this has something to do with wild animals or game meat, but the construction evokes "Moose and Squirrel." Anything that makes me think of Rocky and Bullwinkle is OK by me.

Retribution Gospel Choir
This one gets a boost from the oxymoronic juxtaposition of "retribution" and "gospel." It's at least a little scary; maybe a lot.

Shim
This is just one of those words that's fun to say -- short and punchy and sounds funnier than its actual meaning.

Starving Art Family
This must be the result when Bohemians in a garret don't die of consumption, but survive and have a passel of kids and send them to alternative schools . . .

Subways on the Sun
A Very Bad Idea.

January 8, 2011

This is one of those weeks when every band name is from a different planet. It's amazing that there are still so many different ways to think about the same thing.

Corpus Callosum
A band named for a bundle of nerves. I appreciate the geekiness required to even know the term.

High Class Wreckage
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.


Salinger
I re-read Catcher in the Rye last week, so I couldn't very well leave this band out. There's a lot of rock & roll attitude in the book, and anyway, I always have a soft spot for literary references.

Terraform
It's hard to pass up a good sci-fi connection. I think I've mentioned before that I came to rock music and science fiction at around the same time, and I'm still into both. This name particularly strikes me now because I'm writing a piece that involves terraforming and had to learn about it recently.

Turd Helmet
This is absolutely too gross to imagine! But the name wouldn't go away, so it makes the list. Happy now?

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year! It's a beautiful day in Seattle and a great week for band names. I will mostly let them speak for themselves.

Captain Spalding
Hooray, hooray, hooray!

Haircuts That Hurt
Now that's a close shave.

Peace Mercutio
I'm just a sucker for a good literary allusion.

Same Sex Dictator 
Are you the opposite sex, or am I?

Skeletons With Flesh On Them
Aren't we all? Kind of like how, under our clothes, we're all naked, as Sam the Eagle used to say.

Bonus: Bands That Should Be On the Same Bill:
Speaker Speaker; Mutiny Mutiny; Canon Canyon

Just for fun, add Breaker Breaker, Doctor Doctor and Velella Velella!