Working late on stuff and just letting a few thousand mp3s run on shuffle when I start thinking about the names of some of these bands. That has to be half the challenge of forming a band… coming up with a memorable name. Here are some of my favorite band names…

  • The Fratellis — I saw this name pop up on the satellite radio display, and it was probably the easiest time I’ve had remembering a band name. It’s those damn Goonies references. They stick with ya.
  • The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus — Is it an apparatus for a red jumpsuit or is the red jumpsuit the apparatus (or is it something different altogether)? Does a jumpsuit even need an apparatus? If you’re wearing a red jumpsuit does that make you some kind of de facto crazed red jumpsuit apparatus? I like names that make you think. Wait… driving you crazy counts as “making you think,” right?
  • Death Cab For Cutie — If I weren’t a Beatles fan, I’d be scratching my head wondering how this name came about. It could almost pass for one of those casual conversation things. “She’s a cutie. In fact, she’s so annoyingly cute, I just want to cram her into some hell-bound death cab and only tip the driver a nickel so she can fully enjoy the experience.”
  • Skinny Puppy — Hehe, I know the origin of this band name, but unfortunately, the reality is much more boring than thoughts of these industrial bastards running into some wild event that inspired this name.
  • They Might Be Giants — Don Quixote quotation or George C Scott movie?
  • Tangerine Dream — I guess ‘dream’ denotes a better impression than ‘nightmare’. Tangerine Nightmare would just promote unhealthy images of tangerines with chainsaws, machetes, and hockey masks going on a rampage through a token camp/sorority/isolated cabin in the woods. But then, certain dreams could be bad too… tangerines rolling around your dreamscape in lingerie, French maid costumes, or sporting corsets and whips.
  • Sum 41, Front 242, Apollo 440, Blink 182, Eve 6 — Is there a rhyme and reason to the numerical madness or is it one of those, “It’s gotta be unique… hey! Let’s add a number to it to make sure it’s different.” And yes, all you X Files fans… I’m actually geeky enough to know who the eyeball-chomping psychopath Eve 6 is. ^_^
  • Ego Likeness — “An ego? Us? Nah. You’re just imagining things. Maybe it’s got the likeness of an ego, but it’s not actually an ego. Or maybe it is and it just wants you to be confused.” They’re one of the few bands on MySpace (aside from some local Austin musicians) I’ve added to my friends list. Their name actually caught my attention (and their samples sent me off to purchase their music). Might have to drop them a line sometime and see if they’d share the origins of their name.

And now for some fun. Whenever I get stuck with a title for a story I’m working on, I just start adding “of Doom” to the end of random words/phrases until something serious hits me. I wonder how that’d work with band names…

The Fratellis of Doom, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus of Doom, Death Cab For Cutie of Doom, Skinny Puppy of Doom (ooo, I like that one), They Might Be Giants of Doom, Tangerine Dream of Doom, Front 242 of Doom, Eve 6 of Doom, Ego Likeness of Doom.