The big news is that the Square Pig got out of the hole last Sunday and saw a great show at the Comet. Four bands, all strong and with pretty good names, too! The Downstrokes, The Blue Ribbon Boys, and Hollywood 77 all paid homage to late-'70s New York punk, with spirited Ramones covers and other music that was loud, fast, and raw. It warms my heart that people who weren't even born in 1977 appreciate music that no one else in my high school dug. (The Downstrokes also won me over with a great Ramonesque take on Sam Cooke's "Having a Party," one of my favorite songs from before I was born.) Meanwhile, High Class Wreckage was pure Seattle Sound: a little louder, a little faster, a little heavier than anyone else. Draw a straight line from the Sonics through Mudhoney and you hit High Class Wreckage.
Now for this week's list! Continuing last week's theme, these are all plural nouns. They all refer to ordinary things and lack the definite article. The sheer generalness makes them quirky.
Baths
Is this the mundane weekly chore, or the soothing luxury -- Saturday-night or bubble?
Braids
The strands come together to form a neat unit. Or do they?
Hotels
Luxury and pampering, or standardized anonymity?
Ships
Cargo, cruise, or space?
Swans
The least ordinary of the bunch. Swans are elegant, with a long literary and artistic pedigree, but also big and aggressive if provoked.
Finally, the Bands Who Should Have Been on the Same Bill but Weren't Award goes to:
Just Like Vinyl and The Broken Records.
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, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February 19, 2011
Just for fun, this week's list has a theme. Every band name is a noun, singular. I like the idea of the band as a single unit, no matter how many members.
KITTEN
Seems cute and harmless, but oh! those little needle claws!
Llama
A young person of my acquaintance once wrote a short story for school in which the llama from Napoleon Dynamite (which I re-watched last night) runs away to Seattle and joins a gang of criminal llamas but is defeated during a chase in the bus tunnel when the side-mirror of a Metro bus takes the boss llama's head off. Maybe this is one of those llamas.
Mongo
"Mongo merely pawn in game of life." Thank you, Mel Brooks.
Princess
Sure, she's all sweet and pretty, but what's going on behind the throne? Royalty, like politicians, are not to be trusted.
Shim
Yes, this band has appeared before. Sue me. They fit the theme, and take it to the next level by being a monosyllable! As I said in my previous post, the word is fun to say and sounds much funnier than its actual meaning.
KITTEN
Seems cute and harmless, but oh! those little needle claws!
Llama
A young person of my acquaintance once wrote a short story for school in which the llama from Napoleon Dynamite (which I re-watched last night) runs away to Seattle and joins a gang of criminal llamas but is defeated during a chase in the bus tunnel when the side-mirror of a Metro bus takes the boss llama's head off. Maybe this is one of those llamas.
Mongo
"Mongo merely pawn in game of life." Thank you, Mel Brooks.
Princess
Sure, she's all sweet and pretty, but what's going on behind the throne? Royalty, like politicians, are not to be trusted.
Shim
Yes, this band has appeared before. Sue me. They fit the theme, and take it to the next level by being a monosyllable! As I said in my previous post, the word is fun to say and sounds much funnier than its actual meaning.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
February 12, 2011
AK-747s
This is one of those cultural mashups that goes by so fast that you think you know what it is until you realize you don't. Of course, the Boeing reference makes it local.
Big Wheel Stunt Show
Another name that I had been chuckling at for months before I started this blog. An extreme sport for preschoolers? I can hear those hard plastic wheels rattling down the sidewalk now . . .
Lazer Kitty
So that's what the glowing green eyes are.
Murder By Death
What could be nerdier than a Woody Allen reference?
The Spinning Whips
Full disclosure: I know somebody who knows a member of this group. The name sounds like something dangerous and fascinating.
This is one of those cultural mashups that goes by so fast that you think you know what it is until you realize you don't. Of course, the Boeing reference makes it local.
Big Wheel Stunt Show
Another name that I had been chuckling at for months before I started this blog. An extreme sport for preschoolers? I can hear those hard plastic wheels rattling down the sidewalk now . . .
Lazer Kitty
So that's what the glowing green eyes are.
Murder By Death
What could be nerdier than a Woody Allen reference?
The Spinning Whips
Full disclosure: I know somebody who knows a member of this group. The name sounds like something dangerous and fascinating.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
February 5, 2011
All Bets on Death
Taxes are a close second.
Ancient Warlocks
This appeals to my fantasy-novel side. Music and fiction are the closest to magic we can get: something out of nothing. It also evokes Spinal Tap and their tiny Stonehenge, and that makes me smile.
Campfire OK
Signs are great band-name fodder -- the fewer words, the better. This one has a nice positive vibe, but campfires can get out of hand -- exactly what you want with a rock show!
No Bunny
. . . till some bunny loves you. Sweet, sad, and existential all at once.
The Velveteen Lotharios
Hilariously cheap. (Knowing nothing at all, I guessed "lounge," and I was absolutely right!)
Taxes are a close second.
Ancient Warlocks
This appeals to my fantasy-novel side. Music and fiction are the closest to magic we can get: something out of nothing. It also evokes Spinal Tap and their tiny Stonehenge, and that makes me smile.
Campfire OK
Signs are great band-name fodder -- the fewer words, the better. This one has a nice positive vibe, but campfires can get out of hand -- exactly what you want with a rock show!
No Bunny
. . . till some bunny loves you. Sweet, sad, and existential all at once.
The Velveteen Lotharios
Hilariously cheap. (Knowing nothing at all, I guessed "lounge," and I was absolutely right!)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
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.
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.
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