Bands Whom You May Have Never Heard But Would Make Incorrect Assumptions About Because of Their Somewhat Misleading Name

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Based sort've on this thread...

Bands Who(m) I Have Never Heard Note One Of, But The Name Tells Me All I Need To Know

..cite bands whose names actually inspire misconceptions.

- 10,000 Maniacs
- Blood, Sweat & Tears
- Dead Can Dance

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 22 January 2005 08:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I once asked someone if they had seen/heard Tenacious D.
"No, I don't like rap."

― Aaron Hertz (AaronHz), Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought The Liars were one of those old garage revivial bands. I guess it's just because of the Lyres but still the name sounds very "Back From The Grave" to me.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I reckon if I'd never heard him, I'd think Sting was a pretty hard-rocking name.

― Jole, Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:47 (twenty-one years ago)

The Thrills.

Sadly I have heard them.

― coco, Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Young Black Teenagers

― donut christ (donut), Saturday, 22 January 2005 10:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Hang on. If you haven't heared them, how would you know your assumption was incorrect?

― mark grout (mark grout), Saturday, 22 January 2005 11:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I fancy to think Dead Can Dance is a pretty accurate name for them really, innit?

― Trayce (trayce), Saturday, 22 January 2005 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Hang on. If you haven't heared them, how would you know your assumption was incorrect?

You'd know it when you finally heard them, i suppose.

I fancy to think Dead Can Dance is a pretty accurate name for them really, innit?

Well, not really. As i understood it, the "Dead" in Dead Can Dance meant not so much a human body bereft of life but more the inanimate object of a drum. When played, the instrument literally dances. I don't believe they meant it in as, for lack of a better term, "gothy" a way as it ended up sounding.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 22 January 2005 11:53 (twenty-one years ago)

One time I bought a Dead Can Dance cd the guy behind the counter commented that "these death metal bands sure sell a lot".

― the todster (the todster), Saturday, 22 January 2005 11:54 (twenty-one years ago)

They didn't mean to be gothy themselves apparently, didn't much help

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 22 January 2005 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

One time I bought a Dead Can Dance cd the guy behind the counter commented that "these death metal bands sure sell a lot".
Hahahahaha...

― Ian Riese-Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Saturday, 22 January 2005 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

When I bought Slanted and Enchanted I thought Pavement was gonna be really heavy.

― Magic City (ano ano), Saturday, 22 January 2005 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Deathprod

― jeffery (jeffery), Saturday, 22 January 2005 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

bark psychosis
souled american
panda bear
schooly d

― john'n'chicago, Saturday, 22 January 2005 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Massive Attack

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 22 January 2005 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck

― arjun (arjun), Saturday, 22 January 2005 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The Fuggs

The Swans

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Saturday, 22 January 2005 17:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Not The Swans, just Swans. Which sounds right, I think.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Saturday, 22 January 2005 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Right on.

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Saturday, 22 January 2005 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Iron and Wine to me doesn't sound like folk music to me. Before hearing them, I imagined they brought the rock.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 22 January 2005 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

The Pop Group, though I guess they were trying to be ironic so it shouldn't count

― mat, Saturday, 22 January 2005 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

OTM about Pavement.....I always thought that the name was ill-suited to them.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 22 January 2005 20:04 (twenty-one years ago)

didn't a few people get a little upset about joy division and new order back in the day?

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 22 January 2005 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Flying Saucer Attack
Frankie Goes to Hollywood

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 22 January 2005 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought Bark Psychosis was one of those Orange 9MM, Cop Shoot Cop type bands for the longest time....but maybe more industrial

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 22 January 2005 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Er, I think Flying Saucer Attack is one of the most aptly-named musical projects ever...

And wait... Pavement WERE really heavy. Kinda.

― Jack Zero, Saturday, 22 January 2005 22:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm sure a case could be made for The New Age Steppers, and especially Disco Inferno.

― Ian Riese-Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Sunday, 23 January 2005 01:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness, from Austin (I think), bummed me out when I saw them, b/c I was looking forward to trashed and rocking, or maybe cynical and gothy, but instead it was some kind of Sea and Cakey thing.

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Sunday, 23 January 2005 01:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Guided by Voices

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 23 January 2005 01:33 (twenty-one years ago)

new order / joy division - i thought they were extreme right wing

― nick.K (nick.K), Sunday, 23 January 2005 02:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Pavement, the old stuff anyway, actually sound more 'out', heavier and noisier than I thought they would. I think I expected them to be more like the Lemonheads or something.

Before I knew where the name came from, I thought Joy Division sounded like the name of some 80s pop group, like Culture Club. And they did start to move in that sort of direction but I didn't think the name suggested the grinding punk sludge of the early stuff.

My Bloody Valentine owns this thread, of course. Also, The Grateful Dead, Pixies.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 23 January 2005 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

And, yeah, when I was a kid, I assumed Sting would be a hard rock or metal guy before I heard him.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 23 January 2005 03:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I avoided the Delgados for years because their name reminded me of the Del Fuegos.

― Curious George Rides a Republican (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 23 January 2005 03:39 (twenty-one years ago)

(If S&E came out in the 60s, Pavement could have shared a stage with Blue Cheer.)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 23 January 2005 04:22 (twenty-one years ago)

For some reason my Brazilian friend was surethat The Grateful Dead were a gangsta rap group.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 23 January 2005 05:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Damn, sundar subramanian beat me to it. At least my response is an amusing anecdote!

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 23 January 2005 05:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll second Guided By Voices. I didn't get into them for a long time because I figured they'd be too gospel-based for me.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Sunday, 23 January 2005 11:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Omni Trio. You'd think it'd be a Mahavishu Orchestra tibute band or something like that.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 23 January 2005 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Hadn't thought of My Bloody Valentine, but Sundar OTM!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 23 January 2005 15:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I know fuck all about The Downliners Sect except they're not the NYHC/rap metal band I always thought they should be

― DJ Mencap0))), Sunday, 23 January 2005 15:54 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

Japanese Popstars sound like they should be a twee/cuddlecore/riot grrrl act. They're actually house DJs.

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 26 May 2008 20:27 (eighteen years ago)

Burial :)

― Tape Store, Monday, 26 May 2008 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

June & the Exit Wounds

― henry s, Monday, 26 May 2008 22:51 (eighteen years ago)

not a band, but an individual:

Epic Soundtracks

― henry s, Monday, 26 May 2008 22:52 (eighteen years ago)

Scott 4

― henry s, Monday, 26 May 2008 22:52 (eighteen years ago)

Heavy Metal Kids, maybe (though damn this a great song):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1UmRVwfqtuA

― xhuxk, Monday, 26 May 2008 23:21 (eighteen years ago)

(and it is heavy metal, by some definitions.)

― xhuxk, Monday, 26 May 2008 23:21 (eighteen years ago)

Trash Can Sinatras

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 00:41 (eighteen years ago)

(OK, I have heard them. It took some time though)

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 00:41 (eighteen years ago)

charles mingus

― thorn, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 01:34 (eighteen years ago)

Kevin Shields, the noise band

― telepathy_rock!, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 02:07 (eighteen years ago)

Savage Garden: first time I heard it, I figured they must be goth.
Deja Voodoo: I think they were rootsy psychobilly, but they lameness of the wordplay always brought to mind Savage Garden-like radio pop.

― bendy, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 02:21 (eighteen years ago)

I was amused, or something, to learn that The Samples were a jam band rather than hip hop or electronica.

― j.lu, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 03:37 (eighteen years ago)

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead.

― MaGoGo, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 03:57 (eighteen years ago)

Well, it wasn't MY incorrect assumption, but someone else's; namely, a record store salesgirl back in '91. I asked her if they had the newly re-released Kick Out The Jams, and her reply was something like "MC5? Um, the hip-hop section's right over there."

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 06:00 (eighteen years ago)

I used to think T.Rex was heavy metal.

― musically, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 06:06 (eighteen years ago)

i can imagine someone thinking razorcuts were emo instead of twee

― electricsound, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 06:08 (eighteen years ago)

Crucial Conflict sounds like a metal band name, and their album cover looks like a metal album cover, but apparently they're rap.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 08:02 (eighteen years ago)

OK, In total conflict to my first posting on this thread:

Junior Boys.

I have not heard them, but from the descriptions I've read about them here, they are nothing like how their name would suggest (to me) that they sound/perform/etc.

Unless they were a boyzone tribute band when they first started.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 08:19 (eighteen years ago)

Slaughter

― Pillbox, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 08:58 (eighteen years ago)

Trash Can Sinatras

-- Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 00:41 (8 hours ago) Link

I always assumed they were a punk band before I heard them as well.

― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 09:30 (eighteen years ago)

I'll second Disco Inferno, I belayed listening to them for years because I had no idea what they were like and the name wasn't promising.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 09:49 (eighteen years ago)

Grand Funk

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 16:08 (eighteen years ago)

Cutting Crew. I first encountered their album at my college radio station and figured they were a rap group. Then I heard "I Just Died In Your Arms."

― mike a, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 20:20 (eighteen years ago)

LeAnn Rimes

― xhuxk, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 20:22 (eighteen years ago)

Grand Funk

SOOOO true.

― Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

Destroyer

― our work is never over, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:36 (eighteen years ago)

i can imagine someone thinking razorcuts were emo instead of twee

sounds like tape-edit electro/hip-hop to me!

― energy flash gordon, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 03:40 (eighteen years ago)

Cutting Crew. I first encountered their album at my college radio station and figured they were a rap group. Then I heard "I Just Died In Your Arms."

I came on to say Cutting Crew.

― chap, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 08:46 (eighteen years ago)

Tesla. Never guessed they'd be hard rock, thought they'd be electronic on account of both the electrical engineer and the OMD song Tesla Girls.

― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 13:36 (eighteen years ago)

destroyer is a good one. if you just heard that name alone, you'd be assuming it's a metal band for sure

liars sounded like a punk band to me till i actually heard the records

as for a contribution of my own:

old man's child (what sort of name is this? doesn't sound to me like a polished black metal band)

― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 13:39 (eighteen years ago)

Walking Lemons

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 13:59 (eighteen years ago)

The Darkness.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 14:00 (eighteen years ago)

Acid House Kings
Swamp Children
Death Cab For Cutie

― henry s, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 14:14 (eighteen years ago)

I used to think Velvet Underground sounded like Strawberry Alarm Clock.

― bamcquern, Thursday, 29 May 2008 00:24 (eighteen years ago)

false advertising in rap names

― and what, Thursday, 29 May 2008 00:56 (eighteen years ago)

Slumber Party. I avoided them for years, thinking they were yet another twee band (I'd finally had my fill at the end of the '90s)..

― mike a, Thursday, 29 May 2008 01:07 (eighteen years ago)

fifteen years pass...

one of my metal show friends decided to go to the Satan show last year despite not knowing any of their music, mistakenly thinking they were a raw 80s satanic black metal band based on name and logo. she looked surprised when we told her they were actually a very tuneful, not at all satanic NWOBHM band, but fortunately she loved them anyway.

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 13 March 2024 19:37 (two years ago)

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