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 nightlife listings for abundant source material!

(Until live music returns, I am curating retrospective posts from past material. Dates indicate when the band was originally featured.)

SQUARE PIG IN A ROUND HOLE PANDEMIC EDITION #36

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) continues–I’ve got over 22,000 words on my project so far and have reached the end of the story…but not of the writing. There are still many holes to plug and complications to add. The literary theme on the blog goes on, too–there are so many suitable band names in the vault, I’m including a couple of bonus names this week. As ever, wash your hands, wear your mask, maybe read a book or ten, and if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

DJ Leopold Bloom
(April 2, 2011) I love it when literature insinuates itself into pop culture. I hope he has a gig on June 16.

Don and the Quixotes
(March 3, 2012) Classic band name format + literary allusion = a real winner.

Fan Fiction
(January 22, 2011) 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.

Flyleaf
(March 7, 2015) Literary in a literal and very particular way.

Hello Nowhere
(April 4, 2015) This belongs with one of my favorite lines in children’s literature, “Good night, nobody,” found on an unillustrated page in the classic Good Night, Moon. Or else it’s what you say when you stare into the abyss and invite it to stare back.

In the Whale 
(May 14, 2016) Where Ahab’s leg resides.

Keep of Kalessin
(May 14, 2011) Do these guys know me? I am a fantasy writer because of Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea series, and Kalessin is my favorite dragon in all of literature. I will probably never write a dragon story because it couldn’t possibly measure up. This was the easiest pick this week (and also a perfect badass name for a metal band).

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