Artists You've Written Off/Pointedly Ignored because of their name

A friend was recently waxing rhapsodic about the band Pissed Jeans, but I simply can't get beyond that stupid name. Perhaps I'm missing some great music as a result. I've loved a lot of embarassingly-named bands in my day too, but I just can't support a band called Pissed Jeans.

Et vous?

This is terrible, but I've never given John Vanderslice's music a chance because of his last name. I don't know why.

Killing Joke

2 pac

harry pussy

I was a fan, but I very quickly stopped telling those "not in the know" that I admired the band Garbage because of the response the name alone generated.

I quite liked Nashville Pussy when they first made the rounds (when Corey Parks was still the bass player). I've since lost interest/sobered up. I even have a Nashville Pussy t-shirt (complete with since legally-contested bobcat design), but never feel like wearing it, as it'll mean explaining to offended parties that (a) it's a band and (b) they took their name from a ludicrous Ted Nugent quote on Double Live Gonzo and (c) who really gives a damn anyway?

hey guys if it's OK with you I'm going to totally hate this band sight unseen for their name having the phrase "pure AT heart" in it instead of "pure OF heart." even if they did it on purpose to be 'funny' or something.

― some dude, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 12:45 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lots of people i respect seem to think my morning jacket is alright but there is no way i can get past that name

Agreed on My Morning Jacket. CANNOT get beyond it.

Used to really be bothered by At the Drive-In too. Even if it's a stab at Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" (is it?), it's just lame.

Gentle Giant
Scout Niblett
Blind Melon
Pearl Jam
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Wolfmother
Animal Collective

Toad the Wet Sprocket
New Found Glory
Boards of Canada

the whitest boy alive

I refused to listen to Death Cab For Cutie for years because of their name. Even after I inadvertently heard and liked them, I've refused to ever own any of their music, just because I hate their name.

Basically 95% of indie/emo bands

Took me a while to shell out for anything by The Butthole Surfers.

c-murder

clap your hands say yeah

Gentle Giant
I don't really like prog but I always liked the name

It took me a long time to listen to Of Montreal because I thought the name was so pretentious. My Mom despised the band Hole because of their name but I caught her singing along to Violet once!

xp iatee: I think I have an aversion to anything that has a name that smacks of "elves and fairies in the forest" or new age/hippie stuff - Animal Collective made me think of hippie jam bands where the musicians have power animals.

yeah agree on animal collective at least

my two were mentioned:

My Morning Jacket - got over it and think they're pretty ace
Deathcab for Cutie - i think i heard them once and found them unremarkable enough to go on ignoring

I know it's shallow of me but no matter how many times they sweep the Voice poll I still can't bring myself to listen to The Guys Who're Gonna Beat J0hn D's Ass

Big Dick McGee

I like the name but I couldn't forgive him for killing his wife marion

Black Moth Super Rainbow OTM.

clap your hands say yeah
the yeah yeah yeahs

basically

Fucked Up, for awhile, now i like them a lot

minus the bear

Dr. Dog, I guess. I've still never knowingly heard them.

It took me a while to get around to checking out Eyehategod because of the name. I'm glad I got past that.

Pissed Jeans, oddly enough, doesn't bother me as a name. It suits their sound. They're good! One of the better pigfuck revival acts out there.

yeah yeah yeahs is a great band name, except for when you have to say it aloud

funny, i do remember, way back when I was a teen, hearing about this band Pavement and thinking, come on, come up with a real band name, dudes. Just sounded boring, along the lines of grunge bands naming songs "Porch."

You couldn't pay me a million dollars to listen to one second of the work of a band with a name like "Death Cab for Cutie". No fucking way.

Final Fantasy
Dr. Dog

ryan adams

i figured anybody w/name that close to bryan adams who didn't change it couldn't possibly be any good.

maybe i'm in the minority here, but Death Cab For Cutie's name is my fave thing about them, becuz it makes me think of that funny Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song.

!!! is another one, actually

In case y'all didn't know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Cab_for_Cutie_(song)

(oh xpost!)

and yet, they are totally humorless and sound nothing like the Bonzos AND are just terrible in general

agreed

Dogs Die in Hot Cars

They've been too ubiquitous here for me to write them off solely because of their name, but I think I might have given Arctic Monkeys more of a chance if they were called just about anything else instead.

I gave Dananananaykroyd a listen on emusic out of morbid curiosity (expected some horrible joke band) and was pleasantly surprised with my favorite album of the year to date...

^^^^I have been struggling with friends' recommendations owing to their name

Used to really be bothered by At the Drive-In too. Even if it's a stab at Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" (is it?), it's just lame.

Haha, I never made that leap from At-the Drive In to Poison, but I love it!

i had a friend who was really into the pAper chAse & kept insisting i check them out but i refused because i thought their name looked dumb. now, "When & If The Big One Hits" is one of my favorite songs but i still don't like looking at their name.

more recently, i had a similar experience with tUnE-YaRdS.

Gastunk has a name that just doesn't entice.

The Lottery Winners

avoided Bark Psychosis for years.

Scrunchies, however, is a pretty good name.

there's an Americana band i just became aware of called ... Them Coulee Boys

yes, they appear to be an all-white band

I mean, these aren't the guys who built the railroads, here, but on the other hand they do dress like it

Would The Coulee Damned be a good band name?

there's an Americana band i just became aware of called ... Them Coulee Boys

yes, they appear to be an all-white band

Dictionary might help in this instance, as a coulee is indicative of a dry ravine or canton, whereas the racial slur is spelled differently and has a different etymology.

Not that I care about defending this band, but it seems like a stretch to get up in arms about.

dry ravine or canyon, obv

oh chill

always hate it when people make such niggardly interpretations of my posts!

anyway i'm not trying to say they are racists, i'm just trying to say it hits my ear in a particular way. nor do i think nobody should use the word "coulee" and yet "coulee boy" has some kind of ring to it

someone on tiktok recommended a band called the callous daoboys. thanks but no thanks

Callous Doughboys was right there! would've still been dumb as hell but at least it's somewhat clever

anyway i'm not trying to say they are racists, i'm just trying to say it hits my ear in a particular way. nor do i think nobody should use the word "coulee" and yet "coulee boy" has some kind of ring to it

I still think it’s a stretch.

also, fwiw, wasn’t trying to be an asshole in my initial post, just earnest, sorry if it came off poorly

Callous Doughboys was right there!

We had a Taoist Cowboys here in town some decades back.

xp it's ok! sorry if my "oh chill" was harsh

believe me, i've met some callous tao boys in my day, some of them are actually quite sweet beneath it all

Water From Your Eyes

Alvvays
Father John Misty

Water From Your Eyes

yeah i also hate this one

are they a The Tears tribute band?

Alvvays are too good for the name they have

I can't make up my mind whether I love or hate the name Man/Woman/Chainsaw

Toulouse Low Trax

*groan*

Jerskin Fendrix

Really?

for years:

Viagra Boys

well trolled guys :D

so funny, saw their name in the EOY noms list and came here to post their name

"Portugal. The Man" usually come to mind when I see this bumped. Ctrl+F didn't disappoint.

"Ross from Friends" too (these names need quotation marks. So-called Ross from Friends)

Cumgirl8. Mainly because I couldn’t cope with the embarrassment if someone asked what I was listening to.

Radiohead

The Bird and The Bee. They're a duo consisting of a man called Greg who was once trapped inside a flower and a lady called Inara who can stand on electric power lines without dying and frequently does so.

The name has big upper-middle-class Cambridge Footlights energy. I hate it.

I had imagined that Bitchin Bajas were a crew of gnarly gnoodly deadheads, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they were not.

There’s some cover band in Phnom Penh called the Penh Pals

"Ross from Friends" too (these names need quotation marks. So-called Ross from Friends)

Ross from Friends caused some highly entertaining confusion in my house recently when my wife asked our nephew who he'd seen performing at the festival he'd attended at the weekend.

There’s some cover band in Phnom Penh called the Penh Pals

that’s the only reason you don’t go to see them?

I kind of love that name tbh

Maybe there's a Cambodian doom covers band called Penhtagram

I’m sorry, you like penh pals?!?!

I’m actually trying to name my music project right now. It’s the worst part of being a musician.

Have you considered "Heez Nutz"?

Yes. I have considered that

Tony Shhnow

I’m sorry, you like penh pals?!?!

I’m actually trying to name my music project right now. It’s the worst part of being a musician.

yeah, it's a fun and memorable name for a cover band

yeah agreed

Fine I’ll go to a show but damn well better be fun and memorable

Ross from Friends makes me think of Scott & Charlene's Wedding, who actually had a couple of good-if-scrappy tunes.

(I do confess I did listen to a RFF EP about 7 years ago on a friend's rec and it was probably good too but all I remember was hating the name as I still do.)

Weed420
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizzard
The War on Drugs

Wizard* rather - hey it's still Christmas