Three Imaginary Girls

Seattle's Indie-Pop Press – Music Reviews, Film Reviews, and Big Fun

If there's any one question most bands tend to dislike it's how they got their band name. A band will most likely answer with, "Well, this one night we were drunk…" or something similarly dissatisfying and anti-climatic, which is I avoid the question during interviews.

While listening to emo pioneer Cap'n Jazz's completely encompassing Analphabetapolothology, it occurred to me that two groups of budding musicians lifted their names from track titles: We are Scientists and Scary Kids Scaring Kids.

Then I realized there are many bands who have taken this route to naming, including many from the Northwest:

  • Radiohead took the space out of a Talking Heads' track.
  • Army of Me was originally a Bjork song.
  • Charlotte Sometimes was a song by the Cure before she was a singer touring with the Warped Tour.
  • Death Cab for Cutie was a song by the Bonzo Dog Band that played on a Beatles' movie.
  • Pretty Girls Make Graves was inspired by the Smiths.
  • Shake Some Action! is a Flamin' Groovies tune.
  • Stars of Track and Field was originally a song by Belle and Sebastian.
  • And Eric's Trip (reuniting this weekend for SP20 for the first time in a decade!) was originally a Sonic Youth track. 

Some of these bands seemed to be inspired beyond just the band name and show influences to their naming bands, while other don't.  What do you think — do most of these bands show influences of the song from whence their names came?

What other bands can you think up to join this list?