I love this. I have a thing I call the Led Zeppelin test. A band name, however stupid it sounds, won't matter if the band itself is so good it redefines the meaning.

Kniferide wrote: Mon May 19, 2025 10:26 am Rock*A*Teens, who I love, have the worst band name of all time

I'll see your Rock*A*Teens and raise you The The.

Kniferide wrote: Mon May 19, 2025 10:26 am Sonic Youth is a dumb name

It's a cool name for a band that breaks up after a few years when they're in their mid twenties. Maybe not so much when they're middle aged. Having said that, I think FM cakes Zeppelin test applies here.

Kniferide wrote: Mon May 19, 2025 10:26 am Jesus Lizard is kinda a dumb name
Tropical Fuck Storm is so dumb it kinda comes back around
Man Or Astro Man is a lot to chew on.

All fair.

The Jesus lizard are named after real lizard. Not weird.

Man or Astro man was stolen from a comic or something right?

The the is the worst. Mark it down.

I love a lot of the band names listed above, though maybe that’s because there’s context for them. Sonic Youth is a great name for a band that came out of the No Wave scene and a terrible name if you first saw it listed in the 1:00 PM Sunday slot on the Warped Tour.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? is maybe the worst name listed here thus far, and context doesn’t save it. No clue what that band sounds like. As the kids say, I can’t even.

I had heard enough of the delicately-sad/sadly-delicate bands that traipsed along in the wake of Belle & Sebastian to not really want to engage with a band called The Clientele.

But gentle reader, they're a fucking great band: lyrics held together by empty space, silvery fingerpicked guitar on everything, equal and unsparing attention to the attendant doom of living in England now and radiant, terrified wonder at the natural world. RIYL the Hollies, Terence Davies films, or remembering a hot July afternoon you spent stumbling around south London fifteen or sixteen years ago, trying to escape a gin hangover and wishing your ex would call to ask if you're ok.

Stems of Anise

+1 for The Clientele, tho their name never put me off. I like the early lo fi stuff as well as the polished later pop.

Beak>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEzCGrh7bwc

Fuck Buttons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hQXSsbQCMs

Imperial Triumphant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijaePLLK6oM

Pig Destroyer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlXzZyTYbEc

Prostitute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw-hvmW-bus