Groups you would never even check out, due to their name.

Johnny Vomit and the Dry Heaves
Terry Trans and the Vestites

 

Will.I.Am...although I am a big fan of Will.I.Am Shakespeare...

 

I find unnecessary punctuation in the middle of the name very annoying. See:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

On the other hand you have to come up with a name that is searchable, ideally your band name is the only result for that particular phrase.

 

"Pretentious, moi?"

* Pretentious, Moi? is also the name of a UK goth band.

 

What's with the objection to fishy band names?

Dead Monkeys are to split up again, according to their manager, Lefty Goldblatt. They've been in the business now ten years, nine as other groups. Originally the Dead Salmon, they became for a while, Trout. Then Fried Trout, then Poached Trout In A White Wine Sauce, and finally, Herring. Splitting up for nearly a month, they re-formed as Red Herring, which became Dead Herring for a while, and then Dead Loss, which reflected the current state of the group. Splitting up again to get their heads together, they reformed a fortnight later as Heads Together, a tight little name which lasted them through a difficult period when their drummer was suspected of suffering from death. It turned out to be only a rumor and they became Dead Together, then Dead Gear, which lead to Dead Donkeys, Lead Donkeys, and the inevitable split up. After nearly ten days, they reformed again as Sole Marnier, then Dead Sole, Rock Cod, Turbot, Haddock, White Baith, the Places, Fish, Bream, Mackerel, Salmon, Poached Salmon, Poached Salmon In A White Wine Sauce, Salmon Marnier, and Helen Shapiro. This last name, their favorite, had to be dropped following an injunction and they split up again. When they reformed after a recordbreaking two days, they ditched the fishy references and became Dead Monkeys, a name which they stuck with for the rest of their careers. Now, a fortnight later, they've finally split up.


Actually, I have a record by a group called "Trout" that predates the Monty Python skit.

 

There's a very annoying local Kansas City band called the Snotrockets.

 

The Child Molesters were actually a '70s Californian punk band, FWIW. One of their singles was a charming ditty called "Hillside Strangler".

 

The Bloody Stools

 

I never was a fan of The Brian Jonestown Massacre as a name, and, from what I've read, the name was only the first example of self sabotage that their leader has engaged in.

I also recall a hair metal band called Lord Tracy after Tracy Lords refused to let them name themselves directly after her.

 

I'm guessing you wouldn't be interested in Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her either.

 

One group that I would not have noticed under their original name is Prozzäk (like Gorillaz they are a group that performs behind animated characters). They released a compilation album called Ready Ready Set Go (containing tracks from their first two albums) as Simon & Milo and that is how I discovered them. Later, I found out that they are a group with some great songs, like the following (one of my favorite songs):

​

 

That's an ok name if it's an all girl band. Kind of dumb, otherwise.

 

Toto
Foreigner
Asia...

You just know the music is going to be drek.

 

Hence search-able names like Chvrches, Flyying Colours, and Wooden Shjips.

 

Actually it's just a single girl - too young to be a soccer mom, though. Quite good, in any event.

 

The one that gets me is !!!. They pronounce it chk, chk, chk. But anyone who's familiar with Victor Borge's phoenetic punctuation knows that chk chk chk is ,,,.

 

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black is very stupid if you don't actually have Karen Black in the band.

 

The unnecessary punctuation is absolutely what kills it for me. It'd be a dumb name even without, but the exclamation point squashes any chance of me getting past it.

Another big problem is that after this long, particularly in the field of rock music, all the obvious names have been taken. It was a lot easier in the '60s for bands to look at each other and say "Let's be The Animals" or "We should call ourselves Love". In recent years, it seems you have to come up with a unique phrase or pairing of words that no one else has done -- and that can lead to some stupid names.

 

In other words, the opposite of Them or The The.

 

The flaming lips. The name makes me think of a venereal disease.

 

I've been on the internet since 1988 and that is pronounced "bang bang bang."

 

Steve Strange formed a short-lived punk group called The Moors Murderers. Non-UK folk may need to look up where the name came from.

 

311, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Blink 182 (or any other name with the format 'blank-number', too many to mention), Breaking Benjamin (or any other name with the format 'blank-ing [person's name]'), Chvrches (too close to the legitimately named The Church), Death Cab for Cutie (or any other name that refers to another, cooler artist, in this case Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), Hoobastank, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jimmy Eat World, Mumford & Sons, Of Mice and Men (or any other name that is simply the title of something famous, making it difficult to Google your name), Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her (which is simply the name of a cooler band's song), Squirrel Nut Zippers, Toad the Wet Sprocket, or any other ridiculous-sounding name, with the exception of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who have earned the right to call themselves whatever they want.

I sound like such a snob, but I am just answering the question.

 

I wonder what the deal was with them. I mean, Love wasn't even an underground celebrity at the time. Maybe it was just some sort of local scene politics thing.

 

I have a couple of their CDs and they're pretty good. I'd recommend them to fans of modern bluegrass. New Grass Revival fans, etc..