It's my birthday! A great gift would be if somebody named their band Lip Bomb. Anyway . . .
Full Life Crisis
Now there's an idea: rather than messing around with quarter-life crises and mid-life crises (I'm just waiting for someone to posit the eighth-life crisis for 10-year-olds -- oh, wait, that's middle school) just recognize that the whole thing is one long crisis from beginning to end. Transition is normal. Life can and often does get better, but there's always something. Deal with it. Rock on.
The Gentlemen Gluttons
I'm picturing a whole band of Mr. Creosote in his evening clothes. Bad idea, but a great name.
Post Modern Heroes
The term "post modern" has always struck me as absurd, so I like when people make fun of it.
Sometimes Astronauts
I've had a thing about astronauts most of my life, so this name caught my eye. I can take the "sometimes" a couple of ways. Sometimes astronauts . . . what? Or, sometime astronauts who are doing something else now.
Super Geek League
This one tells it like it is. There are no huger nerds than musicians (except maybe astronauts), which gives them their own kind of cool.
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, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
July 23, 2011
We left Seattle on a misty Thursday on a quest to find some summer. We found it, appropriately enough, in Sunnyside, and sent some back. It was waiting for us when we returned to Seattle on Friday. You're welcome. On to the picks:
The Gnu Deal
C'mon, who doesn't like to play around with the word "gnu"? The pun is almost too easy, but everyone on the panel laughed.
Magoozler
Goofy and fun to say.
Merchants of Moonshine
They're in the country listings, so we can guess what they mean by moonshine. I kind of like the more poetic interpretation, too. Any of us purveyors of fiction could fall into this category.
Naked Bacon Band
Never noticed before that "naked" and "bacon" almost rhyme. This one also got general laughs around the table.
Natalie Wouldn't
Another pun that's almost too easy, but those are the best kind. Do young people even remember Natalie Wood?
The Gnu Deal
C'mon, who doesn't like to play around with the word "gnu"? The pun is almost too easy, but everyone on the panel laughed.
Magoozler
Goofy and fun to say.
Merchants of Moonshine
They're in the country listings, so we can guess what they mean by moonshine. I kind of like the more poetic interpretation, too. Any of us purveyors of fiction could fall into this category.
Naked Bacon Band
Never noticed before that "naked" and "bacon" almost rhyme. This one also got general laughs around the table.
Natalie Wouldn't
Another pun that's almost too easy, but those are the best kind. Do young people even remember Natalie Wood?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
July 16, 2011
I'm on vacation! Among other things, that means I get to see at least one show next week, on a "school night," and it should be a ripsnorter! I've already blogged about two of the bands on the bill, and the third appears in this week's list.
Big Crinkly Trio
I like the word "crinkly." Considering this outfit is appearing at Gallery 1412, the word could very well describe at least some of the sounds they make. It sounds like a friendly way into improv.
Doseywallips
Local flavor -- one of our great NW place names.
Moraine
Gritty residue that remains when the glacier recedes. These rocks haven't just rolled; they have been ground.
South Sound Bureau Chiefs
This one has a particularly wonky vibe that makes me smile. Serious journalism invades the dive bar scene . . .
Your Mother Should Know
It's too early for a Web presence, but this band opens for Pouch and High Class Wreckage -- it should be a great, loud, fun show. I wasn't blogging yet the last time YMSK played out, or this name would have appeared a long time ago. Now is better, though. Full disclosure: I share a full set of parents with the bandleader, and the next time YMSK gets a gig, that'll be me, the Square Pig herself, behind the drums. (This show came up too fast for the latest incarnation of the full band to learn the set). I feel I can legitimately blog about it because I thought it was a great name the first time I heard it, before there even was a band. As the instigator was inviting people to join, a potential recruit listed "Your Mother Should Know" as her favorite Beatles song. She ultimately did not join up, but the name stuck, even through multiple personnel changes and near collapse. It works as a band name because it's a song about a song, about getting up and dancing, about the longevity of good music. It's a piece of advice: "Listen to your mother -- she should know." One of us actually is a mother, and we all have offspring in the age-range of our probable audience. And two out of three bandmembers share a mother; it was on her guitar that the leader learned to play, back in 1983, the last time we had a family band. Just goes to show, it's never too late to get up and dance.
Big Crinkly Trio
I like the word "crinkly." Considering this outfit is appearing at Gallery 1412, the word could very well describe at least some of the sounds they make. It sounds like a friendly way into improv.
Doseywallips
Local flavor -- one of our great NW place names.
Moraine
Gritty residue that remains when the glacier recedes. These rocks haven't just rolled; they have been ground.
South Sound Bureau Chiefs
This one has a particularly wonky vibe that makes me smile. Serious journalism invades the dive bar scene . . .
Your Mother Should Know
It's too early for a Web presence, but this band opens for Pouch and High Class Wreckage -- it should be a great, loud, fun show. I wasn't blogging yet the last time YMSK played out, or this name would have appeared a long time ago. Now is better, though. Full disclosure: I share a full set of parents with the bandleader, and the next time YMSK gets a gig, that'll be me, the Square Pig herself, behind the drums. (This show came up too fast for the latest incarnation of the full band to learn the set). I feel I can legitimately blog about it because I thought it was a great name the first time I heard it, before there even was a band. As the instigator was inviting people to join, a potential recruit listed "Your Mother Should Know" as her favorite Beatles song. She ultimately did not join up, but the name stuck, even through multiple personnel changes and near collapse. It works as a band name because it's a song about a song, about getting up and dancing, about the longevity of good music. It's a piece of advice: "Listen to your mother -- she should know." One of us actually is a mother, and we all have offspring in the age-range of our probable audience. And two out of three bandmembers share a mother; it was on her guitar that the leader learned to play, back in 1983, the last time we had a family band. Just goes to show, it's never too late to get up and dance.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
July 9, 2011
I had the privilege last Thursday to be present at Carrie Akre's farewell show at the Crocodile. The second half of her set was a Goodness reunion. Now, I pretty much missed the '90s -- that was my working-mother-of-small-children decade -- so all the music was new to me. This kick-ass outfit blew me away, as did opening act Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs; they are the real deal and I expect to hear great things from them for years to come. Good luck in Minneapolis, Carrie. Don't be a stranger, and thanks for a great party.
Gimmie a Pigfoot
On the face of it, this is just a bar order -- for a pickled pork item, or perhaps for some drink I don't want to contemplate. But the spelling of "Gimmie" hints that it could be a name, further modified by the one-word "Pigfoot." Is that anything like a cowhand? Or a bigfoot?
Huge Spacebird
Points for goofiness and SF themes.
Smoking Popes
Change one letter and you change everything! And it trips off the tongue.
Socrates and the Lava Gods
I love the idea of Socrates as an adventure hero.
The Whole Bolivian Army
I can't believe I didn't do this one already, but a quick check did not turn it up. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of the first non-kids' movies I ever saw, when I was 7. I don't think I had even heard of Bolivia at the time, let alone the whole Bolivian army. Picturing that scene now, I don't know how they're all going to fit on the stage . . .
Gimmie a Pigfoot
On the face of it, this is just a bar order -- for a pickled pork item, or perhaps for some drink I don't want to contemplate. But the spelling of "Gimmie" hints that it could be a name, further modified by the one-word "Pigfoot." Is that anything like a cowhand? Or a bigfoot?
Huge Spacebird
Points for goofiness and SF themes.
Smoking Popes
Change one letter and you change everything! And it trips off the tongue.
Socrates and the Lava Gods
I love the idea of Socrates as an adventure hero.
The Whole Bolivian Army
I can't believe I didn't do this one already, but a quick check did not turn it up. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of the first non-kids' movies I ever saw, when I was 7. I don't think I had even heard of Bolivia at the time, let alone the whole Bolivian army. Picturing that scene now, I don't know how they're all going to fit on the stage . . .
Saturday, July 2, 2011
July 2, 2011
A new month, a beautiful day, a holiday weekend -- what's not to like? Get out and hear some music!
Electrik Emily
Klondike Kate
These two follow the same naming formula and are on the same bill, so I'll talk about them together. You can hardly go wrong with adjective-person's name, especially if both begin with the same letter and/or sound. It doesn't hurt that Klondike Kate sounds like a gold-rush character (local flavor). That double-k sound in Electrik makes these two go together even better.
Pouch
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.
Slothpop
I don't always name favorites, but this is my favorite name of the week. It jumped out of the listings and made me laugh out loud. It sounds like a great genre for summer -- kind of slow and lazy. Or else a quiescently frozen confection with the strangest flavor . . .
Titanium Sporkestra
Spork is always funny, a titanium spork would be absurd, and the wordplay takes it over the top and onto the blog. I understand this is a marching band, which makes it even better.
Electrik Emily
Klondike Kate
These two follow the same naming formula and are on the same bill, so I'll talk about them together. You can hardly go wrong with adjective-person's name, especially if both begin with the same letter and/or sound. It doesn't hurt that Klondike Kate sounds like a gold-rush character (local flavor). That double-k sound in Electrik makes these two go together even better.
Pouch
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.
Slothpop
I don't always name favorites, but this is my favorite name of the week. It jumped out of the listings and made me laugh out loud. It sounds like a great genre for summer -- kind of slow and lazy. Or else a quiescently frozen confection with the strangest flavor . . .
Titanium Sporkestra
Spork is always funny, a titanium spork would be absurd, and the wordplay takes it over the top and onto the blog. I understand this is a marching band, which makes it even better.
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