See those fine young chaps to your right? They're the members of Does It Offend You, Yeah? — the British rock band that possesses my current favorite band name. It's a tough award to win, especially with so many other good contenders out there right now (including Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin, which comes in a close second).
Band names can convey so much, from a sense of what the music might sound like (the Weepies or the Ditty Bops) to an appreciation of music history (Pretty Girls Make Graves, named after a Smiths song) to a strange and baffling inside joke or reference (Architecture in Helsinki, Better than Ezra). Of course, then there are band names that are just purely ridiculous — Hootie and the Blowfish comes to mind — but in general, I like it when bands take a risk with names that are almost guaranteed to stick in my head.
So, I'm wondering: What band names are your all-time faves? And do you like them most for their quirky references, sense of history, or pure chuckle-worthiness?
GHD
Dolce & Gabbana
Dorotennis
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names
1Red Hot Chili Peppers
2well let's see my favorite right now is "The Good. The Bad. The Queen."
But coming in at a close second would be American Analog Set (it's just catchy) and "Clap your hands and say yeah" always makes me smile.
3Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly - an alternative rock band from the UK
4If I have to pick one it would be Foo Fighters.
5gonna have to go with either COLOR ME BADD or LFO (of the notorious "Summer Girls") i.e. LYTE FUNKY ONES.
6I agree with 'Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly' but 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs' are going to win this one for me
And of course, my favorite band in the whole wide world, Incubus. Just coz.
7Jump, Little Children - a phenomenal band from Charleston, SC
8Fine Young Cannibals. OK Go. Foo Fighters.
9Toad the Wet Sprocket
Oingo Boingo
Echo and the Bunnymen
Skinny Puppy
Men without Hats
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
Revolting Cocks
Circle Jerks
B*tthole surfers
Sha Na Na
Kajagoogoo
the Psychedelic furs
10qkumba zoo
11My favorite band names are:
12Ozma
The Meat Puppets
Weezer
Rage Against the Machine
everything but the girl, shakespeare's sister, righ said fred, marky mark and the funky bunch, the real mccoy
13Good call on Pretty Girls Make Graves, Buzz! Great name!
Some of my other favorite band names that reference other bands are:
Brian Jonestown Massacre (the Stones)
Beechwood Sparks (an obscure shout-out to the Zombies)
Dylan in the Movies (Belle & Sebastian. And Dylan)
I also like:
Tristeza
14Drive-By Truckers
Voxtrot
You Say Party! We Say Die!
American Analog Set
On! Air! Library!
The Last Town Chorus
The Twilight Singers
Buzz, you should do a WORST band names post, too. I can come up with a lot of them.
15I always liked cute pop culture references like Save Ferris and Veruca Salt.
I guess I should throw in Barenaked Ladies because they're my favorite band, and it's cute because they're neither naked or ladies.
16I like "Snow Patrol" and "Architecture in Helsinki".
17Handsome Boy Modeling School named after an episode of Get A Life.
18The best band name ever is:
I Love You, But I've Chosen Darkness.
19hmmm
Men Without Hats
20Color Me Badd
Kajagoogoo
A Ha
Def Leppard
Motley Crue
Guns N Roses
velvet Revolver
and sooooo many more
Many of my favourites have already been mentioned, but here's some more:
Strawberry Slaughterhouse
)
21The Yum Yums
Rantanplan (named after the dog in "Lucky Luke")
88 Fingers Louie
Mando Diao
The Robocop Kraus
Chixdiggit
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
and
I'm from Barcelona (which wouldn't be half as funny, if they weren't actually from Jönköping in Sweden
fireyelectra, I've never heard of them, but that name really is brilliant!
22Gotta give a shout out to The Band. Someone had to be so bold.
23I agree. There should be a worst band name list.
Anyway, speaking of Smiths references, I actually like the simplicity of the name "The Smiths" and I think it suits the music.
24Beach House (actually I don't know if I would list this as one of the best, but I'm recently obsessed with this band and I like the imagery that the name + their music makes me think of)
F*ck Buttons (for some reason this name seems amusing to me)
Beachwood Sparks
Robots In Disguise
Bat For Lashes
The Fiery Furnaces
Cocorosie (I think it fits the music nicely)
Goldfrapp (great last name)
Talking Heads
The Dandy Warhols
The Apples In Stereo
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice (haven't actually heard them, but I tagged them on Last Fm and I love the name)
Quiero Club
Sea Wolf
The Raveonettes
Lavender Diamond
Wizardzz
Metallic Falcons
I agree with The Ditty Bops
The Bird and The Bee
Thee Headcoatees
Stereo Total
Silver Apples
Moon and Moon
The Good, The Bad and The Queen
That's all I can think of. I'm sure I've heard of good names I'm not currently able to remember.
And there's a band called Dylan in The Movies?! I'm looking them up.
Incubus.♥
JUst because of what an Incubus is.
25Forgot to mention the Shout Out Louds.
26They were a local Toronto (Canada) new wave band...
Stark Naked and the Fleshtones
27THE WHO
28My Favorite's Include:
29Jack's Mannequin
Amd Then I Turned Seven
Augustana
Cute is What We Aim For
Hollywood Undead
Louis XIV
Motion City Soundtrack
Queens of the Stone Age
Secondhand Serenade
Sioxsie & the Banshees
Barenaked Ladies
Bloc Party
Taking Back Sunday
30 Seconds to Mars
The Used
We the Kings
Sneaker Pimps
30The The
Gnarls Barkley
Spoon
Flogging Molly
Sparklehorse
Funkstar Deluxe
I like simple band names the best and unoriginal things like The Steve Miller Band, Dave Matthews Band etc--so simple yet it works! There are some cleaver ones that are interesting but they get old sometimes and can be a mouthful!!
31I forgot about the name Sparklehorse. That too and The Shout Out Louds and the Who. Also Beat Happening and Dolly Mixture.
32Against Me!
they have clever song titles, too, my favorite being "we laugh at danger and break all the rules"
33Harry and the Potters
34The Scissor Sisters (all those s's are fun to say)
Mr. Big
Harry and the Potters
35The Scissor Sisters (all those s's are fun to say)
Mr. Big
My brother-in-law and I made up a band name, even though we've not a band:
Manifest Destiny's Child and the Westward Ho's.
36Okay, here are some more of my favorites.
The Boy Least Likely To
37The Dandy Warhols
Animal Collective
The One AM Radio
Kings of Convenience
Billie the Vision & the Dancers
Olivia Tremor Control
Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich
The Helio Sequence
Robbers on High Street
Lullaby for the Working Class
Phosphorescent
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Final Fantasy - so geeky.
38She Wants Revenge, Nine Inch Nails (technically one dude), Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Bush, Garbage, The Sundays, Diggable Planet, Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Harvey Danger.
39How did I forget The Boy Least Likely Too? I even listed one of their songs for the spring playlist. That song would definitely win as one of my favourite song titles ever.
40Southern Culture on the Skids...almost forgot about them.
41And BLLT are most likely a Smiths reference as well. Or, rather, a Morrissey reference.
42Born Against
43Guilt
The Who
The Breeders
Pixies
The Clash
and Team Dresch, because I love the way it rolls off the tongue!
Crystal Castles
44Audioslave. I like the sound of it.
45I about flipped my lid when I saw you mention Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Mid-Missouri represent.
46Arctic Monkeys. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
47Arctic Monkeys. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
48The Airborne Toxic Express, Vampire Weekend, Ozomatli, Peter Krebs and the Kung Pao Chicken, Hurts to Purr, Mephiskapheles
49Oh yeah and the ones that make me giggle: Rancid and Garbage
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