In a world where the Smashing Pumpkins can tour and release music with only one original member, it's unusual to see bands change their names with only the slightest shifts in line-up or style. Here are six bands that released music under two different names.
1. Cap'n Jazz/Owls
When Midwest emo legends Cap'n Jazz broke up in 1995, its members split into countless different bands, including the Promise Ring, American Football, and Joan of Arc. However, in 2001, four of the five members of Cap'n Jazz (guitarist Davey von Bohlen didn't take part) got together and formed Owls, a band with an emo sound similar to Cap'n Jazz, but more complex and sophisticated.
2. Sunny Day Real Estate/The Fire Theft
As well as being similarly influential to the emo scene as Cap'n Jazz, the members of Sunny Day Real Estate also reunited to form a new band. After the band's second break-up in 2001, singer/guitar Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith started a new band called the Fire Theft, without Sunny Day Real Estate lead guitarist Dan Hoerner, who went on to collaborate with Dashboard Confessional instead.
3. XTC/The Dukes of Stratosphear
British new wave band XTC were known for blending post-punk angularity with psychedelia, but the band began fully embraced psychedelic music in 1984, when its members formed the side-project the Dukes of Stratosphear. The Dukes had all of the same members as XTC, performing under pseudonyms, but with a sound more indebted to '60s psychedelic pop, such as the Zombies and Pink Floyd.
4. Samhain/Danzig
Most musicians aren't lucky enough to start even one classic band, but Glenn Danzig managed to start three classic bands in ten years: the Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. After Danzig left the Misfits in 1983, he formed the more goth-influenced Samhain to expand his musical palette. However, when Rick Rubin signed Samhain to Def American in 1986, Danzig decided to change the name of the band to his own name, to signify the band's new heavy metal sound, and to avoid having to start over again with any potential line-up changes.
5. Death/The 4th Movement
Detroit protopunk trio Death recorded seven songs in 1974 and was on the verge of signing to Columbia Records, but after refusing to change its name, the band faded into obscurity and ended in 1977. However, the three members of Death, all brothers, eventually moved to Burlington, Vermont in the early '80s and started a Christian rock band called the 4th Movement, which also brought little success. The band finally achieved fame in 2009 when Drag City released the seven Death songs, nine years after the death of guitarist David Hackney.
6. Yo La Tengo/Condo F**ks
Yo La Tengo is known for its massive repertoire of cover songs, and has recorded many for its studio albums. When the band chose to record an entire album of cover songs, however, it was called F**kbook and released under the name "Condo F**ks," with guitarist Ira Kaplan and drummer Georgia Hubley credited as "Kid Condo" and "Georgia Condo."
What other bands have released music under two different names? Let us know in the comments section!
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