Tag: Band names

Square Pig in a Round Hole-March 27, 2021

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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 #54

Mars is the only planet we know of that is entirely populated by robots. Outside of fiction, I think we’re probably better off keeping it that way; people make a mess. Happily, I did not run out of Mars-themed band names last week. In fact, there are enough for a  couple of bonus names! As ever, 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.

Long Day on Mars
(February 10, 2018) Sometimes I suspect bands of picking a name just to get my attention. Did they know I have an unpublished SF novel on my hard drive that includes a chapter about 3 space travelers on Mars, trying to get from their crashed shuttle to the base 90 km away before their oxygen runs out? It takes them more than one long day.

Your Mother Should Know at Sky Church, November 2011

Mars Red Sky
Oceans of Mars
(March 24, 2012) It’s Mars, OK? My imagination has spent a lot of time there lately. According to this picture, I even played a show there (possibly on the bed of a former ocean, under a red sky):

Martian Cult
(April 21, 2018) As a writer of speculative fiction, I’m always partial to a band name with a sci-fi vibe. Is this Earthlings following a charismatic leader from Mars, or Martians following an Earthling?

Mouse on Mars
(February 16, 2013) My instant reaction was memory of the Fun Forest, which I consider a good thing. In my mind, this name melds the roller coaster Mad Mouse with another ride called Flight to Mars. So, Seattle nostalgia plus my usual Mars-mania — an easy pick.

Stranger on Mars
(March 15, 2014) I imagine it will be a long time before this is not true, by definition, of anyone who gets there. But it can also be read as a comparative: “This music is strange enough on Earth, but it’s ever stranger on Mars.” [Sadly, this band no longer has an online presence. –ed.]

Uncommon Men from Mars
(April 20, 2013) Well, they would be. Mars needs women …?

 

Shameless Self-Promotion: Death’s Midwife (Daughter of Magic Book 3) is now available for purchase from your favorite independent bookshop or the usual online outlets. Join me and The Neverending Bookshop on May 1 at 3 pm PDT for a live Zoom event featuring readings, Q&A, and more! RSVP here to receive the link.

Two last things before you go:

  1. My new thing in 2021 is 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.
  2. 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 nine 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-February 20, 2021

· 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 #49

How’s everybody doing after our near nationwide snow event? Seattle shut down as usual, but only for a couple of days and most of that was a holiday weekend. Looking on the bright side, at least no shows were canceled! We had it much better than a lot of places, but I was just as glad to see the snow melt away before I had to drive anywhere. 

Meanwhile, the celebration of classic X and the Y band-name structure continues for another two weeks! Completely by chance, this week’s set has an animal theme. As ever, 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.

John Hamhock and the Rooster Run Band
(November 15, 2014) I love it when someone builds creatively on the classic X and the Y structure. All on his own, the frontman evokes a country-fried founding father, while the band evokes strutting, crowing confidence. Put them together and I think you can count on an enthusiastic and noisy good time.

Johnny and the Moles
(July 27, 2019) The sound from the underground. You can’t go wrong with classic X and the Y structure.

Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds
(May 16, 2015) It’s so great when somebody takes the classic X and the Y structure way over the top. Band and bandleader both have improbable cartoonish names that would be good on their own but are completely awesome together.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
I could not pass up the delightful rhymes and goofily grandiose imagery. (The resident gamers suspect this is also a reference to Elderscrolls, in which it is possible to play as a lizardperson who is a wizard. I am perfectly willing to believe this interpretation.)

Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs
(September 22, 2018) Classic X and the Y structure in perfect rural guise. And it is now or soon will be hunting season for various game birds in our state.

Two last things before you go:

  1. My new thing in 2021 is 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.
  2. 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 nine 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-February 6, 2021

· 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 #47

The celebration of a classic band-name structure continues! While we still can’t gather or go out to shows, there are abundant X and the Y band names to evoke togetherness in clever, funny, even poetic ways. As ever, 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.

Dinner and a Suit
(April 6, 2013) Starts out sounding like a nice date, ends up as a lame game-show prize. Or a really tiny inheritance.

Dr. Drug and the Possible Side Effects
(May 11, 2013) Classic X and the Y structure + household phrase = instant party. Sounds like a high old time.

Falty and the Defects
(July 26, 2014) This one combines two favorites: classic X and the Y structure and Northwest loser pride.

Fox and the Law
(August 18, 2012) Speaking of fables, here’s a good title. What’s the moral?

The Funeral and the Twilight
(August 18, 2012) A tiny poem about times of poignant farewell, to a loved one, to the day. 

Two last things before you go:

  1. My new thing in the new year is 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.
  2. 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 nine 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-January 23, 2021

· 1 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 #45

Time for a new theme! In writing this blog for more than a decade, it has become clear that there are a few band name formats that will never go out of style. One of the most durable is the classic X and the Y structure. A search of the vault provided enough material for weeks! As ever, 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.

Angelo Delsenno and the Empty Sky
(August 18, 2012) The usual “frontperson and the band” formulation, but it could as easily be a solo act with a tongue-in-cheek name. Either way, Empty Sky is a grand and poignant name.

Baby and the Nobodies
(April 5, 2014) Two of my favorite things: the classic X and the Y structure, with our characteristic Northwest loser pride.

The Bard and the Liar
(August 18, 2012) As if they were not different names for the same thing. Storytellers and poets tell the truth by making stuff up. And I love me an unreliable narrator!

Bones and the Falderalls
(May 3, 2014) I’m a big fan of the classic X and the Y structure anyway, but this goes that extra couple of steps over the top, where X=a colorful nickname and Y=an old-timey term of the sort we don’t see enough of these days. You know these folks are having all the fun and will share generously.

Brian Lee and the Orbiters
(November 24, 2018) Music gives us the power to achieve escape velocity and view the world from a higher perspective.

Two last things before you go:

  1. My new thing in the new year is 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.
  2. 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 nine issues and subscribe here for future issues. (Or just follow the blog for your weekly dose of band names.)