Square Pig in a Round Hole-December 1, 2018

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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 finished National Novel Writing Month with a 45,000 word draft of a fantasy novel that’s been waiting almost 3 years to be written. In celebration, we ventured out on a dark and rainy night to far-flung Maple Valley to hear Denise Glover and Friends play two engaging sets in a genre I call pretty-guitars-without-effects-pedals. Hope they come to Seattle soon! While we wait, here is this week’s batch of creative band names:

The Chocolate Watchband

A messy idea if taken literally but it sounds beautiful and sweet.

Fuzz Droner

I have to respect a name that describes the sound right up front. (See also: Low Hums.)

Great American Trainwreck

I can’t think of a better description of our current moment.

The Languid Current

Poetic and a touch melancholy. (Humorously, the listings ran them together with another band on the bill to create The Languid Current Heir Apparent, which sounds like a character in a 19th century comic novel.)

The Number Twelve Looks Like You

I always appreciate an extra-long name, especially when it’s a complete sentence, even more so when it is a touch surreal. To those of us with number-form synesthesia, this actually makes sense.

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: My novel Daughter of Magic was 1 of 8 books released by Not A Pipe Publishing in 2018, The Year of Publishing Women, which also included a weekly online series of short stories by women. The best of these (18 stories representing a wide range of genres) have been collected into a print anthology, STRONGLY WORDED WOMEN, available now. The collection includes my story “Crane’s Fire” from deep in the backstory of Daughter of Magic. Makes a great gift!

Square Pig in a Round Hole-November 24, 2018

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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 understand today is Small Business Saturday, when we are encouraged to patronize our local mom & pop shops, which I would say includes dive bars, record stores, book shops, and indie authors and musicians. I’m sure these bands would appreciate your custom:

Brian Lee and the Orbiters

Music gives us the power to achieve escape velocity and view the world from a higher perspective.

Mmuumm

Seems perfect for the Weekend of Leftover Pie.

Rain Delay

The rain itself was delayed but showed up in time for Thanksgiving travel.

Smuggling Croissants

Butter-stained pockets, all because of 45’s croissant tariffs.

Billy Brandt w/ The Thing and the Stuff Band

This variation on classic X and the Y structure elevates generic nouns and includes a bandleader other than X.

 

Strongly Worded WomenSHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: My novel Daughter of Magic was 1 of 8 books released by Not A Pipe Publishing in 2018, The Year of Publishing Women, which also included a weekly online series of short stories by women. The best of these (18 stories representing a wide range of genres) have been collected into a print anthology, STRONGLY WORDED WOMEN, available now. The collection includes my story “Crane’s Fire” from deep in the backstory of Daughter of Magic. Makes a great gift!

Square Pig in a Round Hole-November 10, 2018

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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!

My National Novel Writing Month project is going better than expected, so I’m releasing myself from the NaNoWriMo cave to geek out about some band names. And be sure to read to the end for an exciting announcement!

Aurora Motels

Replete with local flavor, this one evokes the Jet City’s grittier, lower-tech past.

Drippy Baby

Human infants happily dribble from almost every orifice. We’re all lucky that human parents find enough other things about them endearing. (This was the first listing this week to make me laugh out loud, perhaps because one of my children was such a reliable and prodigious spitter-upper.)

Mr. Twin Sister

On top of the gender ambiguity, I love how the rhyme is invisible. They’d fit well on a bill with last week’s pick Brother Wife. Or with:

The Mrs. Bill Larsens

The old-fashioned patriarchal formality seems at odds with the freedom and agency of women who rock. That it’s plural adds a disturbing yet humorous note.

SURETHING!

Overwhelming enthusiasm, up for whatever.

 

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: My novel Daughter of Magic was 1 of 8 books released by Not A Pipe Publishing in 2018, The Year of Publishing Women, which also included a weekly online series of short stories by women. The best of these (18 stories representing a wide range of genres) have been collected into a print anthology, STRONGLY WORDED WOMEN, which will be released on November 20 and is available for pre-order now. The collection includes my story “Crane’s Fire” from deep in the backstory of Daughter of Magic. Makes a great gift!

Square Pig in a Round Hole-October 8, 2018

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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!

Yesterday was all taken up with authorial and social business with no time for blogging. Better late than never, I put on the blogging hat because these band names are deserving of attention:

The Bombpops

The appealing bounce of consonants off repeated vowel sounds suits the explosive sweetness that is pop punk. Very excited to hear this group at the Showbox on Thursday with Square Pig faves Dead Bars (as well as Counterpunch and headliners Strung Out.)

Fretland

Where many of us have been living for (at least) the last two years. I hear music is good for anxiety.

Immensity Crumb

This adorable oxymoron sounds like a comic character in a Dickens novel.

Scenic Route to Alaska

Is there any other kind?

Sunflower Dead

20180922_144807Perfect for the change of seasons. There’s a sunflower in my backyard that must be 11 feet tall and is not dead yet, but I wonder how long it will stand once the rains hit. (Spouse included for scale.)