An eye-catching name is one way to get people to remember and pay attention to your band, especially in a festival as massive as the CMJ Music Marathon. But when there are six other bands that have a similar name as you, it is probably time to rethink it. Here are 12 annoying band name trends in the CMJ 2014 lineup.
1. Black Black Black Black Black
Offenders: Black Black Black, The Black Black
Bands with "black" in their name are nothing new — hello, Black Sabbath and Black Flag — but it is worth pointing out that there is more than one band at CMJ 2014 that felt the need to repeat the word "black" in their names.
2. Clubs for Ugly People
Offenders: Ugly Club, Ugly Kids Club
Two bands is barely a trend, but it is still remarkable that there is more than one band that chose to name itself after a club for ugly people.
3. Slang
Offenders: Beach Slang, Mexican Slang, Slang King
When Natalie Portman promised everyone that The Shins's "New Slang" would change our lives, I do not think she meant it this way.
4. King
Offenders: King Holiday, King Mez, King Parrot, King Washington, Kings, DRGN King, Bridget Davis and the Viking Kings, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Slang King, Soho Kings, Spring King, The Peach Kings
Slang King makes its second appearance on this list, so I bet they are feeling pretty silly right about now — if they are reading this, though they are probably not.
5. Little
Offenders: Little Anchor, Little Day, Little May, Little Racer, Little Radar
Just in case there were not enough "little" bands for you in this year's lineup, there are a few "tiny" bands as well, such as Tiny Deaths, Tiny Eyes and Tiny Victories.
6. Party
Offenders: Party Boat, Party Lights, Boy Girl Party, Late Guest at the Party, Manicanparty, The Hunting Party, The Ocean Party
There is a band in my local scene called Party Cops, which is such an incredible name that it should have ended all other "party" bands, but it apparently has not.
7. Teen
Offenders: Teen Body, Teen Commandments, Teen Death, Teen Men, Teen Mom, The Teen Age
It is doubtful there is a single teenage member in any of these bands, though none of the Ramones were actually named Ramone either, so I will let it slide.
8. Twin
Offenders: Twin Guns, Twin Marquis, Twin Peaks, Twin Wave, Twintapes
The most cynical part of me thinks Twin Peaks only became popular because of the hipsters who accidentally stumbled across them when they were Googling the TV show Twin Peaks. If that was their plan all along, though, then I commend them for it.
9. White
Offenders: White Fence, White Lighters, White Like Fire, White Prism, White Reaper, White Violet, WV White, Xylouris White, Paperwhite
"White" was never as popular for band names as "black," so it looks like all these bands are making up for lost time.
10. Wild
Offenders: Wild Adriatic, Wild Pink, Wildcat Apollo, Wildhoney, Honey Wild, Wildlife, Erin & The Wildfire
It is bad enough there are so many bands with "Wild" in their names, but what is even more amazing is that there is a band named Wildhoney and another band named Honey Wild. CMJ should put on a special battle of the bands show for these two to see who should change their name.
11. Young
Offenders: Young Buffalo, Young Graves, Young Magic, Young Statues, Poor Young Things, Stellar Young, The Young Presidents
I suppose the popularity of "young" goes hand in hand with the popularity of "teen," and now that I am looking it up, there are also a bunch of bands in the line-up with "kids" in their name as well. If there is not a counter-movement of bands with the words "old," "elderly," "senile" or "geriatric" in their names for CMJ 2015, I am going to be disappointed.
12. Sun
Offenders: Buffalo Sunn, City of the Sun, Setting Sun, Sun Club, Sunset Guns, Sunshine & The Rain, The Soil and the Sun, Tuff Sunshine, Urban Sun
Since "beach" had played itself out so thoroughly as an acceptable word for a band name, "sun" must be the next best thing.
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