Author: kareneisenbreywriter

Review: Treacle and Other Twisted Tales

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Treacle coverTreacle and Other Twisted Tales by Yvonne Marjot (Crooked Cat Books, 2017)

The stories in this excellent collection consist of familiar tales retold in new settings, or new tales inspired by familiar folk tale patterns. They are told in language that feels timeless and exactly right. As promised in the title, each comes with a twist: of humor, of horror, of unexpected magic.

“Aurora in Tatters” presents an Arctic Cinderella who makes her own choice. “Treacle” presents an apparently cozy and humorous situation, but watch out for that twist! “Imago,” set in an entomology lab, uses the language of moth life cycles to illustrate the end of life. “Maryika’s Journey” and “Maryika’s Christmas” follow a contemporary woman into Russian folktales. (I first encountered “Maryika’s Journey” in Paws and Claws, an animal-themed charity collection from Cake & Quill, in which work of mine also appears.) “Five Stay Home for Christmas” centers on a group of women with dogs and their plans for Christmas with no family commitments.

These are only a few of the gems in this volume. I recommend taking time to savor each one, though it’s hard not to gobble them like popcorn, as I did.

Square Pig in a Round Hole-July 29, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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!

Historically, the last weekend of July is the most reliably sunny of the year. I can attest that I remember rain on my birthday (July 30) only once in my 54 years. But if you’re not a fan of sunshine and outdoorsy activities, feel free to hide out in a dim bar. I’m sure whatever bands are on the bill will appreciate it! These names stood out this week:

Pebble n the Crick

Charming variation on classic X and the Y structure, made more so by the folksy phonetic spelling of creek. If that weren’t enough, the name implies frontperson and backing band but it’s a duo, my favorite size combo.

Prom Date Mixtape

How he/she invited her/him to the big dance. Also, what a great name for a cover band!

Swim to the Moon

A beautiful dream. Don’t let impossibility stop you from trying.

Travis Tribble and the Mount Lake Terrorists

X and the Y structure, check; classic sci-fi reference, check; local flavor, check; word play, check; extravagant length, check. This one has everything!

Yeah No Totally

The one negative somehow renders this triple positive. Everybody’s gonna relax and have a good time.

Square Pig in a Round Hole-July 22, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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!

Show of hands, who else went to the Eastlake Block Party? Take that, Capitol Hill! (Full disclosure: I played an early show at Victory Lounge with Your Mother Should Know and was home by 9:15 because I can’t do that many late nights or stand as long as I would have needed to catch Dead Bars at midnight, as much fun as I know that would have been. I’m sure there were plenty of younger, hipper people to carry the load.) None of this week’s band-name picks were at either block party, so I’m spreading the love around.

Alice Drinks the Kool Aid

Takes a sudden turn from surreal children’s book to real-life horror via cultish metaphor. I don’t want to imagine what happens to her.

Mhostly Ghostly

Only a little bit spooky. Has fun with rhymes and spelling.

Noonmoon

. . . in June? Darn, a month too late, but I still like it. A midday moon sighting always feels like a gift.

The Seafloor Cinema

Now I’m thinking of going to movies at the Neptune back when it was the repertory house. The aquamarine walls and oceanic decor made it feel like you were underwater.

The Selfimportantanators

This one is too long and nigh unpronounceable, and I respect that.

Square Pig in a Round Hole-July 15, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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’m wrapping up a fairly relaxed vacation that included enough activity–a walk in the woods, a few meals out, a weeknight rock show–to feel different from the usual routine without overdoing it to the point of needing another week off to recover. I’m pushing it by playing a show tonight (details below), but maybe we won’t stay out until 2 am like we did on Thursday. Or at least we won’t have to walk the last two miles home. Lots of other bands have shows coming up, including this week’s honorees:

Alone with Everybody

Poetic expression of that sense of being isolated even in a crowd. It also holds out the possibility of being a snarkily named duo or frontperson/band combo.

Roemen and the Whereabouts

In this example of classic X and the Y structure, I like how the name of the frontperson sounds like roamin’ and the name of the band suggests a general location but not necessarily of what or whom.

Wizard Apprentice

This one scratches my fantasy reader/writer itch. It happens I’m writing a trilogy about a girl becoming a wizard, so I’m especially pleased to find the practitioner behind the name is a woman.

World War Me

That one friend who causes 90% of the drama.

Yeek

An exclamation equal parts startled and disgusted: yikes! eek! ick!

 

Two chances to hear me drum and sing with Your Mother Should Know:

Saturday, July 15 (TONIGHT), 7:45 p.m. at Victory Lounge:

Medvedi/ Lunas/ Arbor Towers/ Your Mother Should Know/ Alone in Dead Bars

$5

Friday, July 21, 8:00 p.m. at Black Lodge, LoFi, and Victory Lounge:

2017 Eastlake Block Party + Razorcake emergency benefit

Support your local music scene and dive bars!

Square Pig in a Round Hole-July 9, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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!

Posting a day late because yesterday, we ran away to beautiful Whidbey Island to taste liqueurs and wines, and to attend an important family birthday party. And also to delay having to choose which of an overabundance of great band names to honor this week. I finally went with the shortest and the longest:

BUHU

Short one first. I chose it for the condensed spelling of a sob. Then I learned it is also the name of a yokai, a being I only recently learned about when I read the terrific new novel Wrestling Demons by Jason Brick. I love the serendipity!

Colt and the Peacemakers

I love the classic X and the Y structure, especially when the two parts together refer to something else, and the something else has its own inherent irony.

I Set My Friends on Fire

The literal is kind of horrifying this close to July 4th, so I’ll go with the metaphorical. The right kind of friend group can inspire creativity; even incandescence. (Inspired by that family birthday party for a young teen who has wonderful friends.)

The Lark and the Loon

This pairing of differently musical birds offers another angle on X and the Y structure, where the two are equals. The repeated L sound makes it sing off the tongue.

The Spirit of the Beehive

This summer seems to be developing a bee theme. Last week was The Hula Bees, now this. I like the idea that the humming hive is an entity with a life and spirit of its own.

Square Pig in a Round Hole-July 1, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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!

July already? I’ve been looking forward to it; I finally get a vacation, and Your Mother Should Know is playing not once but twice, and weekend shows for a change. If I live through that, I have a birthday at the end of the month, then start my next trip around the sun. I’m counting on the band names to keep showing up every week, like these did:

Christopher Hill and the Stardust Crush

Classic X and the Y structure perfected with a retro-classy vibe. I imagine them playing at the Platonic ideal of a 1950s prom.

The Hula Bees

Bees communicate by dancing. The hula tells a story. So far, so good. But how do you get the little grass skirts on them without getting stung?

Moon Tooth

That smile lights up the night. Just overlook the craters.

Sea of Misinformation

The story of 2017. Trying not to drown.

Shark Legs

Like that bicycle the fish doesn’t have, some things are rare or don’t exist for a reason.

 

Square Pig in a Round Hole-June 24, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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!

The Seattle area is experiencing a major solar-energy spill this weekend. You may find it necessary to retreat to a dark room and apply cold beer. Loud music is recommended. Here are a few good band names to get you started:

Cuddle Magic

Sometimes a cat on your lap or a big hug really does make it all better.

God and Vanilla

Implies that chocolate is not merely the food of the gods, but their equal.

HeadCat

A nonexistent position because every cat is in charge of itself. I imagine it’s similar with every member of a supergroup, which it turns out this is.

Sinister Six

In which it is demonstrated that the line between rock band and comic book teamup (hero or villain) is extremely fine.

Space Otter

Two things I like that would seem to have nothing to do with each other except through otterlike play with “odyssey” and “outer.”

Square Pig in a Round Hole-June 17, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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!

Contrary to this article in The Hard Times, I don’t think we’ll be running out of band names any time soon. I have been blogging about five names every week for going on seven years and the supply seems undiminished. I have faith in the continued creativity and silliness of musicians. For example:

Adult Mom

Maybe doesn’t make as good TV as the teen variety, but deserving of all credit. Adulting is hard. Momming is harder.

Free Cake for Every Creature

Oh, how sweet!

*Shouldn’t we offer healthier options?* *Why do you hate pie lovers?* *Only if it has lemon filling.* *I hate lemon filling!*

You just can’t please some creatures.

Runaway Satellite

So long, earthbound losers! We’re off to explore the solar system!

Stranded by Choice

Love the double meaning. Are we stuck because of too many options, or intentionally moving to a deserted island?

Young and in the Way

That twist on a lowly preposition takes us from a sappy song lyric right into the life (and kitchen) that follows happily-ever-after. See above, Adult Mom.

 

Square Pig in a Round Hole-June 10, 2017

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Square PigNaming 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 just noticed that it has been one year since I moved the blog to this site. Apparently the move didn’t ruin it, so that’s cause for celebration. Also about a year ago, I was preparing for the publication of my debut novel, The Gospel According to St Rage. A major plot point in the book is the EP the titular teenage garage band is recording for the members’ senior project. I used my real band Your Mother Should Know to realize the songs of the fictional band and released the St Rage EP on Bandcamp to coincide with the novel’s release. At the end of the book is a discount code for the EP. This week, someone finally used the code. St Rage made a whopping $ .74. Is that enough to buy gum?

Meanwhile, the world is full of other bands with other names. Here are a few of them:

Diogenes

Still looking for one honest man? Probably best to stay away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Gus Clark and the Least of His Problems

I like this twist on classic X and the Y structure. Everyone has problems, but your band shouldn’t be the biggest one.

Smashing Flannel

Perfect name for a ’90s cover band, which this is. But in Seattle, flannel is almost always a smashing choice.

Speakeasy

Most everything is improved by sneakiness and secrecy, but this caught my eye for another reason. Speaking as we were of the ’90s: anyone else remember the Speakeasy internet cafe? Our free-improv group Banned Rehearsal played in their back room in 1996; the building burned in 2001 but the internet business continued. In addition to broadband internet, they also provided web hosting and email. For those such as us who were grandfathered in, they still do.

The Wild Agenda Tonight

I’m digging the humorous formality of this reference to the evening’s plans. (Mine: in bed by 10). I’m also excited by the very existence of an all female alternative punk rock band from Eastern Washington, my old stomping grounds.