Square Pig in a Round Hole-October 24, 2020

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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 #32

We had to return to work this week, which made us look forward even more longingly to retirement. Until then, we will rely on hug breaks and belly laughs to lower our stress levels. But Moon Month continues! October 2020 has two full moons (the second one will be on Halloween) so I will be sharing nothing but moon-themed band names all month. I hope it takes your mind off the lunacy that is 2020. Everybody, wash your hands, wear your mask, and if you haven’t already, vote like your life depends on it. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Moon Honey
(May 3, 2014)  A sweet reversal that’s no less romantic.

Moon Hooch
(April 19, 2014) The repeated oo sound is fun. Is this another name for moonshine, or is this another level of illegal:  bootleg moonshine?

The Moon Is Flat
(September 5, 2015) Because it’s actually a giant beach ball, and it needs to be pumped up.

Moonlight Remedy
(September 29, 2018) Moonlight as part of some mystical healing ritual. Or: the remedy for moonlight is curtains.

The Moonmen
(March 8, 2020) Gidney and Cloyd?! Watch out for the scrootch gun.

 

One last thing before you go: 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 first eight issues and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

Square Pig in a Round Hole-October 17, 2020

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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.)

An appropriate wine

SQUARE PIG IN A ROUND HOLE PANDEMIC EDITION #31

I’m wrapping up a reasonably good vacation, considering we couldn’t really go anywhere: an online author event, a radio interview, some errands, some yardwork, a nice walk and picnic in the park on the one sunny day, re-homing two shelves of board games, lots of writing, and VOTING! Our ballots are already in the drop box.

Meanwhile, Moon Month continues! (We even found an appropriate wine.) October 2020 has two full moons (the second one will be on Halloween) so I will be sharing nothing but moon-themed band names all month. There are so many, this week includes a bonus sixth band. I hope it takes your mind off the lunacy that is 2020. Everybody, wash your hands, wear your mask, and plan to vote like your life depends on it. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Man made moons.

(April 26, 2014) That’s not a moon. It’s a space station.

Mansions on the Moon

(December 10, 2011) Nice. I’d settle for a spaceport, but hey, dream big! It’s always a beautiful day on the moon …

Moon Age

(October 12, 2019) 4.51 billion years, give or take 10 million. Thanks, Google, not what I was looking for. Perhaps a subset of the Space Age, back in my childhood when we were landing men on the lunar surface.

Moon Darling

(April 30, 2016) Could be the name of an eccentric character in a quirky novel. Could be an affectionate response to the question, “What’s that bright thing in the sky?” Or someone just really loves the moon.

Moon Duo
Moon Heist

(November 23, 2019) They go together: one’s about an extra moon, the other about a moon that’s missing. In either case, the world would be a very different place. Maybe we have only one because another planet heisted the extra. Lookin’ at you, Mars.

One last thing before you go: 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 first eight issues and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

Square Pig in a Round Hole-October 10, 2020

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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 #30

I’m on vacation and going nowhere! Back in January, we were planning to go to Las Vegas next week on a trip the spouse won at his holiday party. Now that’s a big NOPE, but Moon Month continues! October 2020 has two full moons (the second one will be on Halloween) so I will be sharing nothing but moon-themed band names all month. I hope it takes your mind off the lunacy that is 2020. Everybody, wash your hands, wear your mask, and plan to vote like your life depends on it. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Flight to Mars
A Rocket to the Moon

(April 9, 2011) These two have their own obvious connection, but for me it’s personal: my current literary effort concerns a space expedition that begins on the Moon and flies to Mars and beyond. [Interesting; I’ve recently taken up this same project again! –ed.] Once again, we demonstrate the close relationship between science fiction and rock & roll.

Ghost Moon

(November 30, 2019) Veiled in cloud, drifting spookily through the night. (By my count, this is at least the 27th moon-themed name I’ve featured.)

Glaciers on the Moon

(September 6, 2014) As a space travel and science fiction fan, I’m always on the lookout for space-related band names. I like this one because it sounds made-up on the face of it, but there very well might be water ice deep in some of the moon’s craters. Our solar system is still full of surprises.

Luna Moss

(October 12, 2019) As green as the moth of the same name, flourishing in moonlight.

One last thing before you go: 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 first eight issues and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

Square Pig in a Round Hole-October 3, 2020

· Leave a comment ·
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 #29

It’s Moon Month! October 2020 has two full moons, and the second one will be on Halloween. (So I will not be at all surprised if October’s thing turns out to be werewolves.) I found enough moon-themed band names in past posts to share nothing but for the entire month. Some weeks, starting now, I’ll even share more than five because there is just that much lunar goodness. I hope it takes your mind off the lunacy of this campaign season. Everybody, wash your hands, wear your mask, and plan to vote like your life depends on it. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Artemis Moon
Luna God

(January 5, 2019) I’m a friend of the moon and an admirer of classical pantheons, so what luck to find two moon-deity names in one week! Based on a quick listen, they would fit nicely on the same bill, too.

Boots to the Moon

(February 14, 2015) Have you seen that Photoshop of a cat crossing the path of an astronaut on the moon? That’s Boots.

Buildings on the Moon

(September 3, 2011) I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking about this topic. I’m thinking spaceport, but I heard that a pizza chain (Domino’s?) wants to be the first pizza restaurant on the moon. It’ll probably go right next to Starbucks.

Darkness Stole the Sky
Long Dark Moon

(February 27, 2016) Mythopoetic explanations for lunar phases, winter, night.

One last thing before you go: 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 first seven issues and subscribe here for future issues–Issue 8 comes out next week. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

 

Square Pig in a Round Hole-September 26, 2020

· Leave a comment ·
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 #28

Seven years ago yesterday, September 25, 2013, was the auspicious date when my band-name blogging and my speculative fiction writing collided and nothing would ever be the same. My first published fiction, a short story called “Hat”, concerns Barbara, an invisible teenager who discovers she can be seen if she wears a hat. At the end of the story she is on her way to talk to a classmate about starting a band. Shortly before the story was published, I was driving to my writing group and saw a lighted sign for a storage place with a burned-out O. ST RAGE seemed like a good name for a band or a superhero. I thought, “Why not both and why not Barbara?” That tiny inspiration for a garage rock/superhero mashup has so far produced another short story, two novels (The Gospel According to St Rage and Barbara and the Rage Brigade), and eleven songs that Barbara allowed me to collaborate on.

And also confirmed me as a band-name aficionado for life, even with the bars closed and no live shows scheduled for the foreseeable future. This week I’m back to a theme of fall and school. Everybody, wash your hands, wear your mask, and plan to vote like your life depends on it. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Secret School

(August 15, 2015) This one appeals to me as a fan of the old Pogo comic strip. In 1950, when some Southern schools closed rather than accept racial integration, Walt Kelly drew a series of strips in which some swamp critters opened a “speakeasy school” so the chilluns could still quench their thirst for learning. I wonder, would kids be more eager to go to school if they had to be sneaky about it?

The Student Loan Stringband

(August 15, 2015) This is a hot topic around Square Pig HQ. Considering the ages of the junior SPs, I’m feeling lucky it took this long, but the eldest of them is about to borrow a bit of money for school. If all goes well, it won’t prove too burdensome, which can’t be said of many in his generation. They should all be issued a banjo to cheer them up.

tomorrows tulips

(June 7, 2014) Planting tulip bulbs in the dark and damp of October is an act of faith that spring will come again, and the next spring, and the next.

Valhalla Boys & Girls Club

(September 13, 2014) I imagine kids getting out of class and crossing the rainbow bridge to their after-school program. I wonder if their parents know about the quaffing and fighting?

Withering Blooms

(October 29, 2016) Seasonal, with a hint of romantic melancholy. The last rose of autumn.

 

One last thing before you go: 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 first seven issues and subscribe here for future issues–Issue 8 comes out in early October. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

Square Pig in a Round Hole-September 19, 2020

· Leave a comment ·
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 #27

Rain fell, smoke cleared, and spirits lifted, only to be dashed by news of grief and dread because 2020 isn’t done with us yet. Rest in power, Justice Ginsburg. I went out in the rain this morning to pick blackberries and breathe clean air, a small joy and comfort. Everybody, wash your hands, wear your mask, and plan to vote like your life depends on it. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Blackberry Smoke

(February 9, 2019) Not a local band, but this seems like a cocktail or barbecue sauce one might find at our neighborhood smoked meat emporium, local flavor procured from the local bramble.

Blood, Fire and Rainwater

(March 9, 2019) A heady cocktail that shouldn’t mix but does.

Jar of Rain

(March 16, 2013) Putting rain into any kind of small container is the kind of idealistic and hopeless project I can get behind.

The Rain Within

(November 14, 2015) These dark days will get to you if you let them. But perhaps the mind’s winter drizzle is watering creative seeds that will bloom in the spring.

Smoke Season

(September 9, 2017) Eerily topical after the week we’ve had. Please tell me it’s almost over.

 

One last thing before you go: 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 first seven issues and subscribe here for future issues–Issue 8 comes out in October. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

Square Pig in a Round Hole-September 12, 2020

· Leave a comment ·

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 #26

Is it any surprise that this cursed year would have a horrendous fire season? In Seattle, the sky is yellow and the air is unhealthy to breathe, and we are well aware that others have it worse. But hey, at least we were already not planning to go out! Everybody, do what you need to to stay safe from smoke, fire, viruses, and baseless conspiracy theories. And if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Bonded by Blood
Fueled by Fire

(August 24, 2013) These two (on the same bill) get in for the same reason: alliteration. I also liked that both names had the same form: two-syllable verb (past tense) “by” one syllable noun. Because of this parallel form, I was ready to believe this was actually one band with a long name — and I would have chosen it for that reason, too.

Fire Retarded

(May 7, 2016) This is a rare appropriate use of the word “retarded.” Safety first!

High on Fire

(April 2, 2016) Two idiomatic usages of the preposition on overlap to create an exhilarating but hazardous trip.

Last Great Fire

(June 1, 2013) I guess Seattle should count itself lucky to have suffered only one Great Fire (so far). Let it be the last.

McFiredrill

(October 15, 2011) Maybe this is the kind of fire drill where the alarm goes off and everybody goes and stands in the hall rather than taking the stairs all the way outside. Fast and easy but somehow unsatisfying.

 

One last thing before you go: 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 first seven issues and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)

Square Pig in a Round Hole-September 5, 2020

· Leave a comment ·

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 #25

For the next couple of retrospective posts, I’m going with an end-of-summer/beginning-of-fall/back-to-school theme. Today’s also includes Labor Day. Best wishes and good vibes go out to Seattle Schools families, beginning the school year from home. Everybody, continue to wash your hands, wear your mask, and if you are able, please buy these bands’ music and merch while we wait for a better day.

Arbor Labor Union

(June 4, 2016) It’s an awkward mouthful, and I respect that, as well the right of the workers who keep our trees healthy to organize.

Dead Leaf Echo

(September 26, 2015) Perfect for autumn. If a leaf falls in the forest, does it make a sound, and does the sound have reverb? (A quick listen answers “yes.”)

Great Spiders

(September 29, 2012) Giant spider in the third act!

Ice Cream Socialists

(November 17, 2012) I think I’ve finally found my party. Frozen treats for the masses.

Longshot Academy

(August 15, 2015) I like the idea of a special school dedicated to underdogs, losers, and ne’er-do-wells who need one more chance to find their true path (and maybe start killer bands while they’re at it). It’s an idea that’s just crazy enough to work.

One last thing before you go: 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 first seven issues and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)