Worst Band Names

Okilly Dokilly is a perfectly reasonable name for a Ned Flanders themed metal band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BEvh6HSQc0

I mean, yeah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal._The_Man
The band's name is based on the idea of David Bowie's "bigger than life" fame. They wanted the band to have a bigger than life feel but didn't want to name it after one of their members. "A country is a group of people," guitar player and vocalist John Gourley explains. "With Portugal, it just ended up being the first country that came to mind. The band's name is 'Portugal'. The period is stating that, and 'The Man' states that it's just one person."

― IF (Terrorist) Yes, Explain (man alive), Wednesday, January 17, 2018 3:13 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's still hard to look beyond this.

Okilly Dokilly is a perfectly reasonable name for a Ned Flanders themed metal band

A Ned Raggett themed metal band, now that would be something.

"With Portugal, it just ended up being the first country that came to mind. The band's name is 'Portugal'. The period is stating that, and 'The Man' states that it's just one person."

A Boogie Wit da Hoodie has to be up there (or down there).

This makes it slightly clearer, not less shit

BB: Where does the name Portugal, The Man come from? I kind of get puzzled looks when I say your name.

PTM: It’s an interesting name, I guess. It is kind of an alter ego like Ziggy Stardust and Sgt Pepper. It’s our character to represent us as a band. In picking a country’s name, it was one name that represents a group of people. It made sense for a while, but we have regretted it ever since that day (Laughs).

BB: Is there a reason for the pronunciation and spelling of Portugal, period, the Man?

PTM: We did that to state that Portugal was the man’s name and he is the man; he’s the shit.

https://blanknews.com/2011/06/get-name-portugal-man/

Just one misplaced definite article

.Gif From God

https://www.discogs.com/artist/4803123-Gif-From-God

Pink Cream 69

jesus fucking christ......

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
http://www.psychedelicporncrumpets.com/

Yeah, I've listened to them and think they're amazing, but the name pretty much ensures I'm never going to recommend them to anyone.

There needs to be a sub-thread of band who've changed problematic names, but don't want to rebuild an audience from scratch, so settle on some strained compromise:
British Sea Power
The Dixie Chicks
Lady Antebellum

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

Friends of Dean Martin(ez)

The Blessed Madonna

"Chicks" is problematic too should just change to "The"

seriously though the Dixie Chicks name change is just baffling to me, I get why they changed it but this is like Beastie Boys changing their name to Boys

why is there no sign on this fish shop?

The Virgin Prunes came up recently – I realized I have zero interest in ever hearing their music, based solely on that name.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/2191626-The-Toten-Crackhuren-Im-Kofferraum

The Virgin Prunes came up recently – I realized I have zero interest in ever hearing their music, based solely on that name.

Yoko Pwno

Billy Strings

not *my* lover

Ghost piss

Crywank

I've recently been made aware of bands called Ritt Momney and San Holo.

Hobo Johnson

someone else on here pointed it out on their thread but I do think "Big Thief" is a really bad band name, but not because it's gross or a bad pun or obnoxious like the other ones on this thread, it's just meaningless and unmemorable. if someone told me "check out this band Big Thief" I would forget about it 5 seconds later. it is like the opposite of "Nine Inch Nails".

Also easily confused with one-time SubPop band Big Chief!

https://i.discogs.com/GWMQWbOiQ982iKBlXRYbpKYOyUavmu4Fp9PSPa6qp2s/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:536/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTExMDEx/MTYtMTY3MTE1NTg0/Ni03MTgwLmpwZWc.jpeg

“Nine Inch Nails” is a corny band name on its face (IMO). “Big Thief” may be a little nondistinctive but I don’t think it’s bad.

(At least it’s a novel phrase, unlike a name as unmemorable as Beach House or whatever)

Many indigenous North American languages have a distinction between the head of a band or tribe and a leader of a confederation of tribes. At various times and in various places you might have a weroance (tribal chief) and a mamanatowick, sagamore, or sachem (big chief, indicating a chief with subordinate chiefs).

At least some 17th-century English colonists expressed the distinction by referring to their monarchs as "Big Chief Elizabeth" or "Big Chief James," to indicate that the Queen or King was hierarchically above other rulers.

OK but the band name is “Big Thief”

Chief Theef

International Chief Thief

Big Thief is the worst band name I could imagine. It simultaneously doesn't mean anything, and it lacks visual description, and it sounds like a shitty cover band. It's a combination of small words that leads you... nowhere. So I assumed the music would do the same thing. And, to be honest, they're not my thing at all.

what's the deal with indie rock bands having such drab functional names these days? it beats the worst excesses of the hipster era but it's way too much of an overcorrection and doesn't really inspire me to give their music a fair shot

the beths, the national, dry cleaning, car seat headrest

some of them might even be good idk but come on try a bit harder

I guess it's nothing new since most of the classic indie and postpunk band names are either boring or ridiculous if you think about them too much

Ah yes,the halcyon days of highly meaningful band names like The The

The Smiths
The Cure
The Police

I hate the name Beach House and have never wanted to listen to them for this totally understandable reason (though I did hear Depression Cherry once)

The Hood Internet

By far, Car Seat Headrest is the worst one mentioned so far.

Beatles is a pretty naff functional name, pun on an earlier archetypal group name. But it got valorised into something by usage and the group being somewhat phenomenal.
The Smiths, artisanal songcraft?
THe Cure arrogant statement on their place in the world, Cure for their non existence? Can't remember where the original 2 word version of that came from Easy Cure .... is it a song or some other reference.

some DJ is calling themselves jichael mackson
FFS

I dislike when a band is called something super basic, like "Cake" or "Live," but they have a convoluted explanation that "It doesn't mean what you think..."

There's a narrow range between basic (The Music, the Band, Television, Can, The The...) and too cute like Ululating Mummies, Pamplamoose, Squirrel Nut Zippers