Worst Band Names

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

I kinda wish modern bands would go for more ridiculous names like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, but I guess if everyone is an Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, then no one is an Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

I listen to a genre where there are a glut of bands that seem to be the founders looking for an obscure pretentious verb and a disgusting obscure medical condition and awkwardly sew them together. so my standards are low.

just no spoonerisms

Hey, Adjective Noun is one of my favorite bands.

Surely you're familiar with their albums Promising Debut and Disappointing Followup.

obscure pretentious verb and a disgusting obscure medical condition

Ah yes, who can forget...

Flagellating Chlamydia

Defenestrated Buboes

Spatchcock and the Goiters

The Collating Hemorrhoids

Televangelize Pimple

I hated both the named Wet Leg and Dry Cleaning, and then was all bummed out when I liked each band's music.

Coming to your town together on the Wet & Dry Tour.

Bahaha

Cal Rifkin

She's... back?!!

https://i.imgur.com/5oDect6.jpg

...Oh.

https://i.imgur.com/THxAfOX.png

Could mean the Whitney museum on tour too..

Oh, I wanna sit awkwardly on a bed with somebody

I wanna wear a shirt with somebody

“@“

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/at-mind-palace-music/

Not sure if it’s because their music is generally terrible but I hate the name “Imagine Dragons”

Yeah me too. It's one of those superficially clever band names because one can read it in the imperative: "imagine (that there are) dragons." Or one can read implied punctuation such as "imagine... dragons!" as in sheesh, what the fuck are dragons doing here?

Ditto "Cage the Elephant," which has an imperative reading: "cause that elephant to be caged," as well as the slightly twee notion that there is an elephant named Cage, hence an implied comma: "Cage, the elephant, wishes to be fed more peanuts."

Lots of band names can just die in fire. Maybe bands should all just be issued a number like the Social Security system.

I am guilty too; during an especially weird part of the twentieth century I was in an experimental jazz band that spelled its name differently for every show. I vaguely wish I had kept some of the posters. Curds and Whey, Kurds n Way, Curds + Weigh, Kurds & Whey, etc.

Oh, I wanna sit awkwardly on a bed with somebody

I wanna wear a shirt with somebody

Underrated post

It's one of those superficially clever band names because one can read it in the imperative: "imagine (that there are) dragons." Or one can read implied punctuation such as "imagine... dragons!" as in sheesh, what the fuck are dragons doing here?

Ditto "Cage the Elephant," which has an imperative reading: "cause that elephant to be caged," as well as the slightly twee notion that there is an elephant named Cage, hence an implied comma: "Cage, the elephant, wishes to be fed more peanuts."

🤯 tbh

Hed PE

Is it a Public Enemy reference?

i always thought it was an abbreviation for "planet earth"

hey i was kinda right

Hed PE (also known as (hed) Planet Earth and stylized as (həd) p.e. or as (Hed)pe[12] or (Hed)PE[13]) or (həd) Planetary Evolution, is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California.

also lol @ all those different variations and me still sitting here going, "so is it like, head pee or HEAD PEE EE?"

Their / They're / There