Saturday, June 25, 2011

June 25, 2011

None of the band names were grabbing me, and I thought I was going to have to scrape to come up with five. Then I hit Monday, and great names poured forth in abundance. My faith is renewed.

Clam Hamr
Assonance, bivalves, hammers -- what's not to love? I like to say it and I like the spelling. It also has an appealing only-in-the-Northwest vibe.

Knifey Spoony
This one's just weird and goofy. Is it a game? A description? When consulted, my resident panel voted for it unanimously.

Man Your Horse
Clearly an order that means something specific in context. Out of context, it just sounds funny.

We Wrote the Book on Connectors
I have been waiting months for this band to show up again so I could include them. I'm a big fan of names that are a little too long, especially when they're complete sentences. This has the added fun of being somebody's advertising slogan.

Zero Gravity Circus
Part of the thrill of the circus is the danger of falling -- not a concern in zero-G. But a circus in space would have its own dangers and possibilities. I would love to see this.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

June 18, 2011

A great week for band names: I liked 6 on Friday night alone! First, a shout-out to Nova High School and their band program. The band show is tonight at the Vera Project, and I gotta say, the kids came up with some pretty good names: The Pink Pajamas, El Mago, Chad, German Engineering, Some Pants, and My Left Eye.

I'm only assuming these bands are out of high school:

Ape Machine
Remove one letter from a piece of old recording equipment and suddenly, you're manufacturing simians. It also makes me think of Ape Escape, which came up in conversation just the other day.



Creeping Time
Where does the time go? It creeps away. Creeping Thyme is a fragrant groundcover, but the first time I heard it spoken aloud, years ago, I thought it would be a great name for a band or something. I'm glad someone else thought so, too.


Event Staph
I love it when the entertaining meets the clinical. However, this makes me think twice about going out.



Ringo Deathstarr 
I first heard the Beatles maybe a year or two before Star Wars came out. As a young teen, they were two of my favorite things. I especially loved Ringo (still do), so this a mash-up just for me.


Sigourney Reverb
You don't realize how great this is until you say it aloud.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

June 11, 2011

I have been remiss in not honoring one of the great punning band names of all time: Banned Rehearsal. This free-improv group has been around since 1984 and (full disclosure) I've been a member since 1985. We're approaching the 27th Bannediversary and still play regularly, recording every session. We had a particularly nice session this past week and I thought we deserved a mention. Now, on with the regular list:

DJ Doo Right
When we watch a DVD, we precede it with a short: an episode of "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends." We are somewhere at season 2, so we've seen a lot of Dudley Dooright, making this an easy pick. I'm picturing a square-jawed dj in a Mountie uniform . . .

Guantanamo Baywatch
 I always enjoy these linguistic mashups for the surprising twist at the end. Something that isn't funny in the least turns ridiculous, which makes a person think.

Omega Moo
Spoken, this sounds like the name of fictional sorority, which is kind of funny but not that much. In print, however, it goes somewhere goofy. Cows, like pigs (square or otherwise) and chickens, are automatically funny.


Ponyhomie
Another surprising mashup, this one bilingual.

Sad and French
A post-breakup request at the piano bar: "Give me something sad and French." (This works equally well at the video store or library).

Saturday, June 4, 2011

June 4, 2011

It's finally nice out and I want to go out and play, so let's make this quick.

The Airborne Toxic Event
Take 1 scary, potentially lethal occurrence, give it a calm official title, repurpose said title as the name of a rock band. I like the hyper-rational badassery that results.

Hooray for Earth
I love the wide-eyed ingenuousness of this name. Having read up on how much it takes to simply survive away from our home world, I wholeheartedly join the cheer. We live in Paradise.

Mangled Bohemians
I've said it before: who's going to clean up this mess?

Shot in Minnesota
Ow. (If you're shot in Minnesota, do you still die in Utah?)

Tiny Moving Parts 
This speaks to me of intricacy, precision, and perfectly meshed function. Now I'm curious -- what's rock & roll about that?