August 27, 2011

Speaking from my limited experience of rock band rehearsal and recording, it's a wonder any band stays together at all. It probably helps to have a really good name to stay together for. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Bass Drum of Death
This one appeals to me on a personal level because I used to play the big bass drum in concert band. When it's done right, you feel it as much as hear it, deep down in the center of your being. It's the heartbeat of the music, and when it stops . . .

Celilo
This week's local flavor entry! Although Celilo Falls was drowned before I came along, I grew up hearing about the historic fishing spot on the Columbia. It's a lovely sounding word, and I'm happy to see it immortalized in a band name.

Charlie Drown
Goes by so fast, you almost miss the joke.

Dolorean
The joke here is visual -- in the spelling, not the sound. This car needs a flux capacitor to cheer it up.

Iwrestledabearonce
I like this name because it's a little too long to be practical, and then run together into one word so it looks hard to read (even though it isn't). On top of that, it's an outrageous statement that must lead to a good tall tale.

 

August 20, 2011

Considering the way this summer has been, we've been awfully lucky to have many of our nice days on the weekend. Today was perhaps the finest yet. I'm just back from a boat ride and a chance encounter on the waterfront with a band playing tunes from the '60s. I think their name was Spirograph, but the wind was blowing the banner so I can't be sure. That's a pretty good name, though.

Beware of Safety 
I'm thinking of playground equipment that's had all the fun safety-ed out of it. Where are the Giant Strides of yesteryear? In music, at least, we can still make mistakes and get messy.


Captain Gravel
The Gravelmobile must be a dump truck.

The Ettes
Every girl group ever. Love it.

Medula Pinata
The weird science twist puts this one in the top five this week. Combining a brain part with a party decoration that gets hit with a stick -- funny and creepy all at once.

Wooster 
I hope this outfit has a Jeeves to keep it all together.

August 13, 2011

Shameless plug: go to Reverbnation and check out Train Case. I named the group myself after a conversation about Pouch, and now we have a couple of songs up. Meanwhile, here are some bands I didn't name but wish I had:

The Earps
It's not the fault of Wyatt and his brothers, whose first names I can never remember, that they have a name that sounds like an unpleasant bodily function. It's memorable and kind of fun to say. Bands named for historical figures catch my attention because of the apparent disconnect. Yet that's the point of history -- everything is connected if you just look long enough.

Groggy Bikini
I never would have put this adjective and this noun together, and now I can't stop wondering what this means. All the long e and hard g sounds are strangely amusing to say.


Jaguar Paw 
This sounds like the name of a character in the middle-grade book series Warriors, of which I read far too many a few years back. It's about clans of feral cats, and a lot better than that description makes it sound. That said, I wouldn't want to get too close to an actual jaguar's actual paw.

Terrordactyls
The re-spelling gets it exactly right.

Underground Train to Candyland
I love this -- it's a little bit long, and seems to describe the dark, gritty side of children's board games. (Note: published listings say "Underground Train" but the actual name appears to be "Underground Railroad to Candyland". That's still pretty great.)

August 6, 2011

I actually heard someone the other day say it was too hot. It might have been 80. My response was, "We've waited a long time for this, and it won't last. Besides, we have it better this summer than pretty much the whole rest of the country, so don't complain." Actually, that last sentence is nearly always true, no matter the subject, including or maybe especially if the subject is local music.

Bird by Bird
As a writer, I have to support this one. Anne Lamott's book is on my shelf and has been a great help whenever I have to start a large project. Just take it bird by bird.

Fungal Abyss 
Wonderful and gross. What's down there for the fungus to feed on? And who's eating the fungus?


Goodbye Heart
I really, really hope one of the band members is named Mary Lou. (No such luck, but they're not just from Seattle, they're from Ballard. How local is that?)

The Mallard
The singular really makes this. The touch of local flavor could only have been improved if they were playing in Ballard. Well, maybe next time.

Shannon and the Clams
Again with the local flavor! It uses the no-miss "and the" formula, and the short "a" sounds make it flow.