I'm posting a day late because we chose to spend the last nice day for a while at Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the woods. Today, not so much, but maybe a good time to go indoors and hear a band or three.
Don Peyote
A masterful example of a play on words that must be spoken aloud for the joke to register.
Duckmandu
Ducks, like chickens and pigs, are always funny. This has the added pleasure of alliteration with that second D.
The Grindylow
I like that it's only one of them.
Woodgrain
Completely independent of this band, my kid once used Woodgrain as a screen name in an online fighting game, in an effort to come up with something absurdly boring and non-threatening with nothing whatever to do with the game. I have to hope these guys were thinking along similar lines.
Your Cell: Yourself
Taking self-awareness to a whole new level.
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!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
September 17, 2011
I've been corresponding with an aspiring novelist whose story partly revolves around a rock band that's been together for over twenty years. I suggested, as a way to better understand her characters and their backstory, to consider what they called their band before they came up with the current name -- back when they were 20, playing for 10 or 15 people in a dive bar on a Wednesday night. How many names did they go through and how many fights did it cause? Because I can't imagine most bands came up with a winning name first time out of the box, and that's part of the story. By whatever process, these bands came up with winners:
Anhedonist
I like this because it can be taken a couple of ways: one who is not a hedonist -- not anti, just . . . not. Or (because some people like to use the article "an" with words that begin with "h") it could be the article and the noun run together -- one who is an hedonist. I expect it's up to the listener to decide.
Insect Surfers
Insects on surfboards: cute. People using giant insects as surfboards: trippy. People surfing waves of bugs: ew.
Magic Bus
I'm an old Who fan, and I've always loved this song, so I couldn't pass this one by.
Write This Down
The irony is that at a live performance, you can't understand most of the words.
YO! Majesty
This is exactly the right attitude toward monarchy.
Anhedonist
I like this because it can be taken a couple of ways: one who is not a hedonist -- not anti, just . . . not. Or (because some people like to use the article "an" with words that begin with "h") it could be the article and the noun run together -- one who is an hedonist. I expect it's up to the listener to decide.
Insect Surfers
Insects on surfboards: cute. People using giant insects as surfboards: trippy. People surfing waves of bugs: ew.
Magic Bus
I'm an old Who fan, and I've always loved this song, so I couldn't pass this one by.
Write This Down
The irony is that at a live performance, you can't understand most of the words.
YO! Majesty
This is exactly the right attitude toward monarchy.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
September 10, 2011
When we get summer in Seattle, it's perfect. We just have to wait till the first week of school, is all. This late in the season, it cools off in the evening, making us more willing to go indoors and hear some music!
Cast Iron Maidens
Illicit Jug Cartel
These two share a bill and caught my attention for the same reason: an ominous phrase turned down-home and humorous by the change or addition of one word. Nicely done.
Pig Destroyer
Do they launch the pig? I just hope they're not after square pigs . . .
Pinehurst Kids
Local flavor down at the neighborhood level. I wonder if Pinehurst kids are the same as AS#1 kids -- incredibly loud and more numerous than you believed possible (in the words of a former Nova HS student with experience of new crops of 9th graders arriving en masse from AS#1).
Tang and Toast
Space-age breakfast of champions.
Cast Iron Maidens
Illicit Jug Cartel
These two share a bill and caught my attention for the same reason: an ominous phrase turned down-home and humorous by the change or addition of one word. Nicely done.
Pig Destroyer
Do they launch the pig? I just hope they're not after square pigs . . .
Pinehurst Kids
Local flavor down at the neighborhood level. I wonder if Pinehurst kids are the same as AS#1 kids -- incredibly loud and more numerous than you believed possible (in the words of a former Nova HS student with experience of new crops of 9th graders arriving en masse from AS#1).
Tang and Toast
Space-age breakfast of champions.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
September 3, 2011
In honor of Bumbershoot, I checked the festival schedule as well as the club listings in my never-ending search for creative band names. This week's picks:
Buildings on the Moon
I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking about this topic. I'm thinking spaceport, but I heard that a pizza chain (Domino's?) wants to be the first pizza restaurant on the moon. It'll probably go right next to Starbuck's.
Dead Man
Dunno if they had this in mind, but this is the title of a truly great, deeply weird film starring Johnny Depp.
Fitz and the Tantrums
Dumb and clever at the same time, in one of the standard formats.
Free the Robots
Otherwise, they will rise up and become our overlords.
Hobosexual
Delightfully juvenile. Also, as a member of a rock duo, I like to support other duos.
Buildings on the Moon
I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking about this topic. I'm thinking spaceport, but I heard that a pizza chain (Domino's?) wants to be the first pizza restaurant on the moon. It'll probably go right next to Starbuck's.
Dead Man
Dunno if they had this in mind, but this is the title of a truly great, deeply weird film starring Johnny Depp.
Fitz and the Tantrums
Dumb and clever at the same time, in one of the standard formats.
Free the Robots
Otherwise, they will rise up and become our overlords.
Hobosexual
Delightfully juvenile. Also, as a member of a rock duo, I like to support other duos.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
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.)
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.)
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