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Curious about band names

1st Bass

1st Bass

May 26, 2005
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Forest Grove, OR
#1
It seems that there are certain critters that are deemed worthy of emulation (Beatles (yes, I know how to spell the critter), Eagles, etc.) But what about other such bugs, birds, or such?

Green Night Herons are really intelligent-seeming birds, but as far as I know, no one has grabbed that for a name.

Funnel-web spiders are among the most fearsome of venomous arachnids, Stoats are pretty ferocious little predators, Fisher Cats too, but much larger.

What makes an Eagle an appropriate name-source, but a Nighthawk not so much? (Actually, that one, with all the associations regarding the eagle, I sort of get, but...) Whippoorwills?
 
#2
I think if the animal is cool somehow, then it is a candidate. For example, the name, "The Fluffy Bunnies" just doesn't cut it for a rock band. On the other hand, the Gray Panthers might work for an older group of guys. I think that's why "The Eagles" works -- because it's an agressive, warlike creature that generally has a lot of respect, being our national symbol etcetera.

Also, it has to fit the style of the music. Hard metal bands tend to have really aggressive names like "MegaDeath" or "Metallica". I think you would be hard pressed to find one called the "Woods Quartet", which is more for a classical group playing polite music.
 
#5
can't worry too much about decorum and "what's appropriate."

Exhibit A: When People Were Shorter and Lived Near Water, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, The Butthole Surfers, The Hard Drinking Housewives, etc—all honored ancestors of the crop of active bands proudly bearing weird names (for example, Modest Mouse, Eagles of Death Metal, Texas Chainstore Manager, etc.)
 
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#6
there's flock of seagulls, screaming jayhawks, dragonfly, and i just discovered a band called pelican. black widow was a band in the late '60s with lyrics about satan.

i suspect that if you look up enough animals, insects and birds, many of them have bands named after them, albeit bands that most of us haven't heard of before.
 
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#7
Yeah I think part of it is that the name has to either.....

1) Be just weird enough to be memorable.
2) Be funny.
3) Just be really catchy.
4) Roll off the tongue.
5) Be ominous (in the case of serious rock/metal bands)

Sure, there are some exceptions.

No offense, OP, I personally would not be interested in pounding beer and wings while the Green Night Herons of Funnel-Web Spiders rawked out. That is, unless somebody I know and trust had already seen them and recommended them.
 
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#16
two fingers said:
No offense, OP, I personally would not be interested in pounding beer and wings while the Green Night Herons of Funnel-Web Spiders rawked out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this.

Going for a night of beer and wings you want to hear a band named Dragonscales, Harleypipes, or something similar. Not the Waterbugs or Burning Blunts, unless you're into progressive/indie/pop. Conversely, when you go to see a jazz group, you want to see the Bob Smith Trio or Nightdreams.
 
#19
Guess I really wasn't thinking about what kind of band. Different names evoke different images: for example, the Ermine is a vicious little weasel capable of killing game several times its size-- but most people imagine very costly white fur, not a crazy-wild little killer. :-) Whereas the Red Sable is a larger weasel living in Siberia or some such place...but I only think of expensive varnish-brushes.

Good answers! My curiosity is slaked.

Aha! "Unslaked!"
Nahhh...too obscure. :-)
 

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