Naming a band is an act of concentrated creative expression. Since 2010, Square Pig in a Round Hole has been rewarding 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 Stranger’s Everout nightlife listings for abundant source material!
I rarely go out to bars to hear music these days–a combination of the COVID era and advancing age, plus never having really been comfortable with bar culture beyond the music. BUT I ventured out last week with my brother and erstwhile bandmate to play a few of our songs at an open mic. For being completely unrehearsed (at least recently), it went well! And it was fun to hear the other musicians, all of them younger and better than us. But we were the only ones with a band name. I might be persuaded to do it again someday.
If you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch. And … hit the follow button at the lower right to never miss a post.
Bailey & the Broken Strings
Back when my brother and I were semi-regularly playing as garage-rock duo Your Mother Should Know, there was a running joke about how far into the set he would get before breaking a guitar string. At the open mic, he managed to do it before anyone played a note. A new record! (The show went on with a borrowed instrument. Always go with friends.)
Blue Elephant & the Seven Snakes
When classic X and the Y band-name structure also sounds like one of Aesop’s lesser known, trippier fables.
Daffodil Motel
Does it get any divier than cheerfully named but rundown mid-century roadside lodging?
Late Night Shell Station Run
My kids have done this in snack emergencies–it’s just down the street. Even funnier were the mid-morning Shell station runs by a summer daycamp counselor and a bunch of 6-year-olds from the Boys and Girls Club half a mile away. He believed in tiring those kids out, and as a parent, I approved.
Zoinks!
I will never pass up an enthusiastic cartoon sound-effect name. And they’re on a bill at the Seattle Pop Punk Festival with Square Pig faves Dead Bars! Makes me wish I could stay up late.
Two last things before you go:
- I run The Rage Brigade, a Facebook group for conversation about fantasy, science fiction, superheroes, and music (and the intersections thereof). If that sounds like fun, come join us here.
- I share highlights from this blog in my quarterly author newsletter, The Storypunk Report, as well as news of what I’m writing and reading, upcoming events, and other goodies, including “Wizard in the Mosh Pit,” an exclusive short story just for subscribers. Click the link to check out the archive and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)
Karen Eisenbrey 