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 (usually) 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!
I’ve regularly paired up band names that I thought should be on the same bill. Occasionally, I’ll choose more than one from the same show. And now, for the first time in almost six years of writing this blog — ta da! — the whole list comes from one gig. (And they’re from out of town, so let’s give them a real Seattle welcome; bring on the rain!) I’m straying from my usual path of an alphabetical listing to get a better narrative flow.
Four imperatives and a result. On initial reading, the first two seem to conflict, but perhaps they have an internal logic where sticking to your guns requires leaving the beaten path. Step 3 makes sense if we’re going to win this battle; step 4 gives us pause but may be the most important of all. The enemy, utterly bamboozled, is knocked loose.
Karen Eisenbrey 