March 29, 2014

SHAMELESS PLUG: Your Mother Should Know (the band for which I am drummer, backup vocalist, and calm center of sanity and order) is playing next Friday, April 4, at a benefit show for NOVA High School, the coolest public school ever. We'll present 5 songs from our planned full-length album, to be recorded later this spring. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1459740187577437/

Nova HS mascot, the Dead Rat

On with the band names:

Bear Hands
What I want to know is, does the Constitution give us the right to arm these bare-handed bears?

Earth Eater
Spacewaster
I put these together because they're on the same bill and seem related. My first (admittedly nerdy) thought was of Galactus, the Fantastic Four villain who roams the universe devouring planets -- laying waste to space. It was hard to believe I hadn't written about Spacewaster before, because I like the assonance and the lack of space between the words, as well as the loser-grunge mentality. I'm happy to include it with another band that gives a whole different slant on "waste."

Pink Octopus
What's not to like about an intelligent eight-armed mollusc that's both a shy loner and fierce ambush predator? When they're red, they're angry. Pink seems more friendly, but I could be wrong. Approach with care.

Wrinkles
In Seattle, we don't iron, so they should fit right in.

March 22, 2014

A local musician posted this on Facebook yesterday:
"If you aren't in your favorite band, you are in the wrong band." 
Yes! The most important music is the music you are doing yourself. Next most important is the music your friends are doing. And so on. Just make sure you have a great name so I can write about it!

Bring Me the Horizon
Epic. Romantic. Futile.

Charlie and the Foxtrots
I keep trying to learn the NATO phonetic alphabet; Charlie and Foxtrot are the only letters I consistently remember. That, plus the classic X and the Y structure, makes this a winner.

Dead Cat Hat
This is awful and funny at the same time, with an obvious but irresistible rhyme. Not the cat in the hat; the cat is the hat.

The Tentacles
I'm picturing a one-octopus four-piece band.

Wakey!Wakey! 
Eggs and bakey! An ironic act in a late-night show, but perfect for the hangover breakfast.

March 15, 2014

Wow, I might actually get out to a show today -- not one but two favorite bands, Acapulco Lips and Red Ribbon, are playing an in-store at Everyday Music! 6:00 p.m. is my kind of start time. As names go, it's hard to beat Acapulco Lips, but here are some close seconds:

Endorphins Lost
What goes up must come down, alas.


Raptor Tractor
I had a tractor phobia when I was a small child (and it has already been pointed out that Tractorphobia would be a good band name). Now I'm picturing fierce dinosaurs on John Deeres. Extra credit for being on a bill with past honorees Power Skeleton and Skunk Rider.


Silent Land Time Machine
Anything with "time machine" in the name is almost guaranteed to catch my eye. What I like about this, aside from the length, is that it can be read as three modifiers with one noun; one modifier with three nouns; or two nouns with one modifier each. Mix and match!

Space Cretins
There's no stopping the cretins from launching . . .


Stranger on Mars
I imagine it will be a long time before this is not true, by definition, of anyone who gets there. But it can also be read as a comparative: "This music is strange enough on Earth, but it's ever stranger on Mars." 

March 8, 2014

I'm observing a dry Lent, but at least the weather is soaking wet! Neither of those things prevents me from celebrating bands and band names. There's never a shortage -- here is this week's fine collection:

Dreamsalon
When your dreams look tired and out of date, you make an appointment. They'll shampoo your psyche and give you a whole new dream style. What are the magazines you read while you wait?

Erasehorse
I'm always a sucker for wordplay. This steed picks up hoofprints as it passes, leaving untrodden snow.

Indie and a Jones
Wordplay and pop culture and the classic X and the Y structure? It's like they know me. And I'm a big fan of Dr. Jones.

Pat the Bunny
Here's another kind of wordplay I enjoy, where a verb can also be a name. So the classic baby book title in another light becomes a gangster name. And there's also a little nostalgia factor, for any parent who wore out a copy of the book.

The Sun Thieves
Our neighbors, the clouds, raised to mythic heights.

March 1, 2014

The last day of February wanted to be spring. The first day of March isn't so sure. At this unsettled time of year, it's reassuring that we can still rely on the music scene for a boundless supply of entertaining band names.

GAG
Sometimes it's best to be short and to the point. This single word is a noun and a verb, both of them kind of disturbing -- a lot of heavy lifting for one syllable, two actual letters, three characters.
 

Pigpen Theatre Co.
I love how the British spelling classes up the sty.

Rdgldgrn
This is awfully close to the unspellable, nigh unpronounceable nonsense name I was wishing for last week, so thanks, guys! My guess is "red gold green" but just looking at it in print, it's not obvious and I respect that.

Tugboat Country
Hey, that's where we live! I can relate to tugboats -- they're small but mighty, and the big, flashy ships can't get along without them.

We Butter the Bread with Butter
Out at the opposite end from Gag, here we have six words -- eight syllables -- that form a complete sentence. That alone is amusing. But behold! Once again, there's one word acting as both noun and verb, which lends an absurd poetry to the enterprise.