Bands whose names you prefer to their music

[Jockice]

I'm currently wearing a Desperate Journalist t-shirt. Not that I'm a massive fan. They're good at what they do and if I'd been in my 20s or 30s when they were about I might have been that sort of fanatic. But I'm in my 50s and bought the t-shirt simply because I used to be a journalist and I was often desperate.

The Slits is another one. It was David Bowie's favourite band name ever apparently and although I quite like some of their stuff it's not as good as their moniker. If they were called something else I may not even given them more than a cursory listen. With or without their tits out on the LP cover.

Am I sad? Or what?

[DrGreggles]

Death Cab For Cutie

[peanutbutter]

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

[Bazooka]

Girls Aloud.

[Pauline Walnuts]

These Animal Men

[The Boston Crab]

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead...

[alan nagsworth]

James

[Inspector Norse]

Michael Bublé

[Icehaven]

My first (terribly pretentious) teenage band was nearly called Thelonious Monk because the guitarist had heard the name somewhere and thought it was some old philosopher. I can't remember how we found out he was actually a jazz musician (no internet then to check) but seeing as we never played anywhere except our bedrooms it didn't really matter. I've still never listened to anything by the real TM (which would surely have been how he was referred to in the court action had we become famous.)

[purlieu]

I'm currently wearing a Desperate Journalist t-shirt. Not that I'm a massive fan. They're good at what they do and if I'd been in my 20s or 30s when they were about I might have been that sort of fanatic. But I'm in my 50s and bought the t-shirt simply because I used to be a journalist and I was often desperate.

You might get mistaken for a Cure fan.
I actually really like them and hate their name.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Extreme Noise Terror.

[Icehaven]

Atari Teenage Riot.

[the ouch cube]

Lots of those run of the mill punk bands that exist solely to play all-day punk fests where everyone has a ridiculous mohican including the bald blokes and the 6-month-old babies, and they're always called things like Guns N'Wankers, I Done A Shit On Thatcher's Head, and so forth.

[alan nagsworth]

Atari Teenage Riot.

haha yes, ATR are absolute fucking dreck

[Chriddof]

Extreme Noise Terror.

Good call. I've not heard enough of that band to really figure out how good they may be (I've only heard the KLF thing), but I find it hard to see how they could match up to that. Also it gives the alternate impression of a daft power electronics act, only if they were they'd have just named themselves after a serial killer or some such shite.

Atari Teenage Riot.

Another good call. Very disappointing band, only ever seemed to get NME journalists excited. Speaking of which, one of the women from this group (Nic Endo) actually put out a fairly decent noise EP back in 1998 and the NME hack who reviewed it was apparently unaware that noise as a genre was "a thing". She's included the review on the Bandcamp page of the re-release, because - well, wouldn't you want to use something like the following as a legit press cutting for your record?

All anarchists are sexy, according to an ancient Malcolm McLaren T-shirt. If so, then Digital Hardcore are the sexiest anarchists in the universe, a leather-clad Baader-Meinhof gang of revolutionary teenage noise terrorists. Nic Endo is one quarter of Atari Teenage Riot and, starting now, a solo artist. To christen Digital Hardcore's new "electronic riot grrrl" sister label Fatal, this German-Japanese punk goddess has made probably the most extreme hardcore record ever.

A five-track EP with no tunes, no words, no beats and no concession to human pain barriers. Just an astonishing, terrifying, exhilarating roller-coaster ride of computer-generated noise which will burst eardrums, empty bowels and take breath away. Try sitting through Endo's appallingly beautiful symphonies of pure, monolithic, screamingly nihilistic noise. AAAAAARGGH!!! See? Even if you never listen to this record again, you must hear it once. Before now, Digital Hardcore were merely the true heirs to the Pistols, Public Enemy and Prodigy. Now we can add Napalm Death, My Bloody Valentine, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and Karlheinz Stockhausen to the list of avant-garde sonic revolutionaries they have overtaken. Nic Endo is only 22. She hates you, your lifestyle, your politics and your records. Be very afraid.

[purlieu]

The NME reviewing experimental music was always embarrassing. Their review of Autechre's Gantz Graf EP was appalling - something about Ae only being listened to by bald Germans or something. The reviewer obviously hadn't been to an Ae gig.
The year before, the magazine had given a glowing review to Confield.

[Brundle-Fly]

My first (terribly pretentious) teenage band was nearly called Thelonious Monk because the guitarist had heard the name somewhere and thought it was some old philosopher. I can't remember how we found out he was actually a jazz musician (no internet then to check) but seeing as we never played anywhere except our bedrooms it didn't really matter. I've still never listened to anything by the real TM (which would surely have been how he was referred to in the court action had we become famous.)

That's brilliant. Reminds me of the old record shop story about the customer who asked if they stocked any albums by The Loneliest Monk.

[jobotic]

Krabathor

[Brundle-Fly]

Helios Creed
The Mars Volta
Judy Tzuke
The Blues Project
Vanilla Fudge
Cutting Crew
Spooky Tooth
Dizzee Rascal
Jake Bugg
Air Supply
Foghat
The Plasmatics
Stretch Armstrong

[Maurice Yeatman]

Hear'Say. Because I'm a grocer.

You've been lovely, folks. Bingo in five minutes, God bless.

[kidsick5000]

Atari Teenage Riot.

You'd think they'd be A LOT more fun with that name

[gilbertharding]

That's brilliant. Reminds me of the old record shop story about the customer who asked if they stocked any albums by The Loneliest Monk.

I had to go into a record shop one xmas to find some Gilbert and Sullivan for my dad... very close call that I didn't come out with Gilbert O'Sullivan.

[SteveDave]

Depeche Mode
Arab Strap
The Dave Matthews Band

[Icehaven]

That's brilliant. Reminds me of the old record shop story about the customer who asked if they stocked any albums by The Loneliest Monk.

Had the nascent Thelonious Monk lasted much longer after we realised our mistake, that may well have been our next name.

[phantom_power]

That's brilliant. Reminds me of the old record shop story about the customer who asked if they stocked any albums by The Loneliest Monk.

I wonder if that is how Fatlip got the name of his solo record

[a duncandisorderly]

+1 mars volta, & the band they descended from, at the drive-in.

also- bolt-thrower, 70s gwen party & any number of other peel favourites that no-one's ever heard of.

[Bently Sheds]

Steelpole Bathtub. Great name, but they do nowt for me.

Bailter Space almost qualify, but from the 30 seconds of a YouTube video I just watched they make the kind of noise I should *really* enjoy.

[jobotic]

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a fantastic name but I've never been inspired to look any further, from the bits I've heard.

[Fabian Thomsett]

We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It

[a duncandisorderly]

Bailter Space almost qualify, but from the 30 seconds of a YouTube video I just watched they make the kind of noise I should *really* enjoy.

NZ's answer to sonic youth/MBV.... I love them. especially the labradford-style mumbled vocals buried in the mix. I frequently leave one of their albums in the player for several days, on repeat.