This morning it was sunny and windy and felt like March already. OK, I guess that is tomorrow. February always ends suddenly -- too soon yet not soon enough. Don't want to jinx it, but I think we're safe from winter. To celebrate the turn of the calendar, how about some band names?
Bacon and Beer
The band for men. (Or breakfast of champions.)
Big Trughk
This one gets in for spelling. It perfectly conveys a guttural, phlegmy pronunciation that makes an ordinary vehicle intimidating.
Girls Love Rockets
Well, this one always did. From about the age of six, I thought it was pretty strange to assume female people weren't interested in space, space travel, science fiction, etc. Because who wouldn't be?
The Hex Dispensers
It's very convenient: just lift the head and a curse pellet comes out.
Sunken Rocketship
This seems somehow more disastrous than a regular sunken ship. A rocket has so much farther to sink.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club.
This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is
short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please
like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
I play drums in a band called Your Mother Should Know. Our album Rocks and Glass is available now on Bandcamp.
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 28, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
February 21, 2015
I find I've been refraining from mentioning on social media how it's effectively spring already in Seattle so as not to rub it in with my friends and family who are experiencing a winter of epic proportions. I don't want people to resent us -- or want to move here. Wait, they already do! If you're lucky enough to live here, take advantage of being able to go out without bundling up, maybe check out a band or three. These names popped out of the listings this week:
Mom's Rocket
It's a happy accident that "rocket" sounds like "rock it." This name also speaks to my personal family role and my sci-fi efforts. It may be fictional, but I do have a rocket.
Sorrow's Edge
Dark poetry in two words. I like that edge can imply a border or a blade, and it makes sense either way.
Strawberry Love Cat
Cheery and goofy, in that psychedelic way. I'm partial to cat names, too. (Check out their adorable logo).
Reagan Youth
I was young in the Reagan era. Still makes me squirm.
Ultra Violent Rays
Worst sunburn ever.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
Mom's Rocket
It's a happy accident that "rocket" sounds like "rock it." This name also speaks to my personal family role and my sci-fi efforts. It may be fictional, but I do have a rocket.
Sorrow's Edge
Dark poetry in two words. I like that edge can imply a border or a blade, and it makes sense either way.
Strawberry Love Cat
Cheery and goofy, in that psychedelic way. I'm partial to cat names, too. (Check out their adorable logo).
Reagan Youth
I was young in the Reagan era. Still makes me squirm.
Ultra Violent Rays
Worst sunburn ever.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
Saturday, February 14, 2015
February 14, 2015
Happy Valentine's Day! Even if you don't have a date tonight, go out and give a band some love! I'm feeling sweet on these five:
Alestorm
Remove an h sound and suddenly, rather than running for cover, people are running out into the storm with their mouths open. Hope nobody drowns, but what a way to go.
Blubber
What a versatile word -- both noun and verb, with completely unrelated meanings, yet self-descriptive in both cases. It sounds like uncontrollable sobbing, and it sounds like a gooshy layer of fat. Now it also sounds like this band.
Boots to the Moon
Have you seen that Photoshop of a cat crossing the path of an astronaut on the moon? That's Boots.
Catfish & the Bottlemen
Classic X and the Y structure, but the frontperson is a (possibly fictional) character. I also can't help thinking the Bottlemen might want to hang out in the Alestorm.
Giraffage
Those leaves from high up the tree will keep you regular.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
Alestorm
Remove an h sound and suddenly, rather than running for cover, people are running out into the storm with their mouths open. Hope nobody drowns, but what a way to go.
Blubber
What a versatile word -- both noun and verb, with completely unrelated meanings, yet self-descriptive in both cases. It sounds like uncontrollable sobbing, and it sounds like a gooshy layer of fat. Now it also sounds like this band.
Boots to the Moon
Have you seen that Photoshop of a cat crossing the path of an astronaut on the moon? That's Boots.
Catfish & the Bottlemen
Classic X and the Y structure, but the frontperson is a (possibly fictional) character. I also can't help thinking the Bottlemen might want to hang out in the Alestorm.
Giraffage
Those leaves from high up the tree will keep you regular.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
Saturday, February 7, 2015
February 7, 2015
As I turn my garage-rock short story "St. Rage" into a novel, I get to invent more fictional bands to populate the scene around St. Rage. I'm sure this early Square Pig post will come in handy, with such gems as Human Blood Rush and Sack o' Hamsters. Meanwhile, the real world is blessed with the likes of these:
For the Likes of You
Like an overheard fragment of conversation between strangers, this prepositional phrase cut off from its sentence is open to whatever backstory we feel like providing. A note of derision seems like a given.
Flu
'Tis the season. A reminder to disinfect those microphones and wash hands often.
Hardly Boys
The simple addition of one letter creates not just a pop-lit pun, but the perfect name for an all-girl band. If St. Rage weren't fictional, they'd be at this show.
Infesting Intestines
A clever rhyme that's also gross! Who could ask for anything more?
The Sky Rained Heroes
This has an epic tone. When things get really bad, you might want a team of heroes coming to the rescue. A rain of heroes, though, has the potential to turn into a too-many-cooks scenario in a big hurry, transforming that epic into comedy on a grand scale. (On a somewhat related note, the heroine of "St. Rage" has the satisfying but useless power of bringing down a rain of birdshit on whomever she flips the bird).
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
For the Likes of You
Like an overheard fragment of conversation between strangers, this prepositional phrase cut off from its sentence is open to whatever backstory we feel like providing. A note of derision seems like a given.
Flu
'Tis the season. A reminder to disinfect those microphones and wash hands often.
Hardly Boys
The simple addition of one letter creates not just a pop-lit pun, but the perfect name for an all-girl band. If St. Rage weren't fictional, they'd be at this show.
Infesting Intestines
A clever rhyme that's also gross! Who could ask for anything more?
The Sky Rained Heroes
This has an epic tone. When things get really bad, you might want a team of heroes coming to the rescue. A rain of heroes, though, has the potential to turn into a too-many-cooks scenario in a big hurry, transforming that epic into comedy on a grand scale. (On a somewhat related note, the heroine of "St. Rage" has the satisfying but useless power of bringing down a rain of birdshit on whomever she flips the bird).
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
Saturday, January 31, 2015
January 31, 2015
Out of probably hundreds of great shows we could have gone to last night, we chose . . . to stay home. The last week of the month is like that. Very sorry to miss Shelby Earl at the Columbia City Theatre and hope to catch her next time around. (Your Mother Should Know included this tribute to Shelby on our new album, Rocks and Glass.)
I probably won't make it to any of these bands' shows, either, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate their names:
Boom City
So many reasons to love this as a specifically Seattle band name: our history with supersonic jets; that long-lived fireworks stand; our growing reputation as the capital of LOUD. Appropriately, they are playing tomorrow, Super Bowl Sunday, and will, we hope, be celebrating the actions of our beloved Legion of Boom.
Cat Bomb
Always happy to celebrate a cat-related name. Rather than cats carrying explosives, I prefer of think of this as a stealth weapon that goes off and suddenly everybody everywhere has a cat on their lap and cat rock in their earbuds.
Pig Snout
Always happy to give a shout-out from one pig to another! Pig things make me happy, and there's something arresting about putting the spotlight on just one part, as in the folk song, "The Sow Took the Measles" (as performed by Train Case). Then I find out this band is young kids, and the little sister is the drummer!!! And she sings, too. It's like Your Mother Should Know if we'd started several decades earlier.
Radioactive Vomit
This seems really metal; or maybe, as my resident science adviser put it, it's what happens when you eat too many bananas, which are apparently mildly radioactive due to potassium ions. Learn something new every day.
Splatinum
I love the combination of a sloppy sound effect with a precious metal, achieved with the addition of only one letter.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
I probably won't make it to any of these bands' shows, either, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate their names:
Boom City
So many reasons to love this as a specifically Seattle band name: our history with supersonic jets; that long-lived fireworks stand; our growing reputation as the capital of LOUD. Appropriately, they are playing tomorrow, Super Bowl Sunday, and will, we hope, be celebrating the actions of our beloved Legion of Boom.
Cat Bomb
Always happy to celebrate a cat-related name. Rather than cats carrying explosives, I prefer of think of this as a stealth weapon that goes off and suddenly everybody everywhere has a cat on their lap and cat rock in their earbuds.
Pig Snout
Always happy to give a shout-out from one pig to another! Pig things make me happy, and there's something arresting about putting the spotlight on just one part, as in the folk song, "The Sow Took the Measles" (as performed by Train Case). Then I find out this band is young kids, and the little sister is the drummer!!! And she sings, too. It's like Your Mother Should Know if we'd started several decades earlier.
Radioactive Vomit
This seems really metal; or maybe, as my resident science adviser put it, it's what happens when you eat too many bananas, which are apparently mildly radioactive due to potassium ions. Learn something new every day.
Splatinum
I love the combination of a sloppy sound effect with a precious metal, achieved with the addition of only one letter.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo, "Huge Guy in the Mosh Pit."
Saturday, January 24, 2015
January 24, 2015
If you weren't at last night's Your Mother Should Know album release at the Highline, you missed an amazing show! What an honor to share a bill with Tom Price Desert Classic, Can You Imagine?, and Dead Bars. Everybody brought their A game, and we even sold a few records. And for once, the majority of the performers skewed older than me!
I'm a little dazed from keeping rock & roll hours, but these band names aren't going to blog about themselves.
DJ Vitamin D
The promise of aural sunshine. This is so Seattle -- somebody knows what we can't get enough of in these dark days of winter.
GodFish
I like how this manages to use multiple forms of wordplay in just two syllables. Starting with two different fish, you arrive by different routes at the same aquatic deity. I leave it to you to discern any deeper theological significance.
Knee High Fox
Another example of the power of a single letter. One swap transforms humble hosiery to the diminutive object of admiration.
Saliva Giant
Disgusting on a hilariously grand scale. Have to respect that. Do not get in a spitting contest with this one.
The Toasters
There's something optimistic and cheerful about a toaster, humble household appliance that it is. Perhaps it's the breakfast connection. (Brought to you by the Toast Marketing Board. Eat more toast).
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo.
I'm a little dazed from keeping rock & roll hours, but these band names aren't going to blog about themselves.
DJ Vitamin D
The promise of aural sunshine. This is so Seattle -- somebody knows what we can't get enough of in these dark days of winter.
GodFish
I like how this manages to use multiple forms of wordplay in just two syllables. Starting with two different fish, you arrive by different routes at the same aquatic deity. I leave it to you to discern any deeper theological significance.
Knee High Fox
Another example of the power of a single letter. One swap transforms humble hosiery to the diminutive object of admiration.
Saliva Giant
Disgusting on a hilariously grand scale. Have to respect that. Do not get in a spitting contest with this one.
The Toasters
There's something optimistic and cheerful about a toaster, humble household appliance that it is. Perhaps it's the breakfast connection. (Brought to you by the Toast Marketing Board. Eat more toast).
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
January 17, 2015
I had hoped to make an announcement of a fun fictional band-name contest, but it has been delayed a little bit. Watch this space!
Meanwhile, these non-fictional band names caught my eye:
Earth Control
I like plays on words that sound similar but are spelled nothing alike. This also gives off a science-fictiony vibe, which has perennial appeal for me.
Gigantor
Insect Man
I'm grouping these two together, not only because they're on the same bill, but because they sound like a great B-movie double feature.
Singer Sargent
Here's someone named Sargent taking advantage of a happy intersection of art, music, and language. Whether or not he is the singer, I applaud the choice.
The Sky Is a Suitcase
The sky is the bag the Earth is packed in. Is it the Earth control alluded to above? Or maybe they started with the phrase, "A door is ajar" and swapped in other nouns until it sounded just right.
My fiction and blogging projects collide in "St. Rage," now available as the 13th release in the Pankhearst Singles Club. This story of an all-girl teenage garage band with superpowers is short, it's funny, and it's only $ .99. If you like "St. Rage," please like St. Rage on Facebook and go listen to their first demo.
UPCOMING: Your Mother Should Know album release show, with Tom Price Desert Classic, Can You Imagine?, and Dead Bars Friday, January 23 at the Highline Bar. I'd want to go to this show even if I wasn't playing! https://www.facebook.com/events/374070109426331/
Get the record: https://yourmothershouldknow2.bandcamp.com/album/rocks-and-glass
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