That's an ill avatar.


And I always appreciated the name "Neutral Milk Hotel", because the nouns involved portray feelings of comfort, which is what the music was meant to do, "Olivia Tremor Control" is another good one, and it was actually created by Jeff Mangum.

^why is death cab for cutie a bad band name? i think its damn good one

I don't think pretentious names are directly correlated with indie bands, but band names in general. It depends on your perception of pretentiousness. Personally I don't really see what people are always complaining about with long bands names. What really gets me is when they shorten them to initials. That to me isn't pretentious, just irritating. What? You can't take three extra seconds to say the whole name?

well depends on the initials of the name. like NMH has a great ring to it but i would never says DCFC, thats is silly. or the old fashioned oyster crackers: OFOC, c'mon thats just funny!

I just wish most of the bands mentioned here put as much effort into their songs as they did to their names.

Sadly the majority of them didn't.

Majority? Most of the bands I've seen mentioned (save a few, granted) are quite talented and don't record their music half-assedly.. thank you very much :|

^amen brotha!

Red Red Meat is a terrible name but I've always liked the other two.

amen sista*

I think the problem is, there's been so many bands, new bands have to scrape the barrel to come up with anything at all that hasn't already been done.

I don't like really boring names. Like Foals.

I like the name Panic! At the Disco. But I don't like them.

I think that Times New Viking have a sick, clever name. And also they are saving punk rock, but that's for another thread.

amen person!*

^and how is Times New Viking clever? Its just taking out Roman and putting in Viking......

and i wouldn't exactly say they are saving the punk scene. they are a decent shitgaze band, but that's about it

I wouldn't agree indie is the worst genre in poor band names... things like "And You Will Know Us.." etc are eye-catching, 65 Days Of Static, Yip Yip Coyote and The Mighty Lemon Drops are examples of names that have got my attention and hundreds more besides... IMO only the pop charts would reflect silly and unattractive band-names where the music is less inspiring also...

I don't mind the "pretentious" band names! Honestly, sometimes I tend to listen to a band because of their name. I like names like; Stardeath & White Dwarfs and Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin.

In my opinion, most terrible band names are found in the metal genre. Mostly because I don't see the need in being blasphemous or vulgar with your band name. And I am no religious person.

At least with really pretentious band names they're really easy to find.

My biggest pet hate is bands who use really generic one word names and then go on to record self titled debut albums.

Virtually impossible to find anything if you're looking for some obscure download.

I hear this. There's a really good band from Portland called The Standard who have pretty much Google-proofed their material from being found for download.

I hope not too many bands twig this or we're in for waves of bands with names like plug, book, gravel or chair.

The trend I've noticed a lot with hardcore bands is that they name their band after an (often odd) noun and then make it plural. Examples: Narrows, Daughters, Architects, Rabbits, Maths, Throats, among others.

Disagree. "Times New Roman" has a white-bread boringness to it that suggests docility and politeness. Swapping in "Viking" gives it exactly the opposite connotation: huge, brash and loud. It's probably also a way cooler font.

Incidentally, I have a problem with people using ****gaze as if it were a genre of music and not a recording/packaging choice. Nobody who's seen TNV live would label them "****gaze." As far as the actual music that this group is creating it's pretty straight-forward pop-punk with an acrobatic buzzsaw of a guitar sound and catchy boy-girl shout along vox. Dismissing them as "just another ****gaze band" seems like an awfully stuck-up reaction to people who seem to just want to write 2-minute pop bangers and play them as loud as they can.

It isn't just hardcore, underground bands from all walks of life are going this route. See LA's Baths, NYC's Cults, Austin's Stunts, etc.

The most obnoxious trend I've noticed is lo-fi electronic/ambient acts just using celebrity names. There are local bands around LA named Nicole Kidman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Mickey Rourke, etc. Though I have to give props to Truman Peyote.

I wish more indie bands had "& the" names. They're so simple to make and are pretty memorable. Here's my indie band name

"Harry Freeman & the Batshit Willies"

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Scott & Charlene's Wedding
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Lo-fi Culture Scene

They're a few bands that you could argue to be pretentious; I love them regardless.

casiotone for the painfully alone.

A Home. A Heart. Whatever.
Night Driving In Small Towns
The Consulate General
The Wilderness In Manitoba
The Rural Alberta Advantage
The Most Serene Republic
Joy Formidable
Tiger! Sh*t! Tiger!

All of these are just either really pretentious or really unnecessarily boo.

A few of the bands are actually pretty decent, though.

I love Don't Haunt This Place by The Rural Alberta Advantage. Such a raw feel.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are absolutely terrible. So boring. Plus they have a terrible band name.

is the only indie band name I really really hate. Don't have anything against the music though.

When I can't tell which is the band name and which is the song title, I start off not liking it before even hearing it (however that often changes after hearing it). Kind of like meeting someone who's wearing socks with sandals. They might be the coolest person in the world, but it's hard to get over the socks.

I'm thinking of starting a band called either Deer Panda or Panda Deer.

That rivals Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) for worst band name of all time.

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head is miles worse than either of those

^ Forget what I said, holy **** that's bad.

I still think this is the worst one. Seriously, what the hell kind of lame pretentious literature shit is this?

Has anybody said anything about post rock band names? I know a few annoying ones:
And So I watch You From Afar
If These Trees Could Talk
The Samuel Jackson Five
This Will Destroy You

Nah, I like TWDY's name.

Yeah, I always thought that was a cool name. ^

meh, it's just another Post-Rock band name to me. They make good music, though.

It's kinda funny because many of Trail of Dead's fans like them for the name haha.

Must just be your opinion.

I personally like pretentious long band names. They usually draw my attention and make me check out the bands music.
Some of my favorites(most of these aren't indie rock but still):
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Neutral Milk Hotel
Suffocate for Fuck Sake
Bohren & der Club of Gore
Death Cab for Cutie
Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson
(The) Slowest Runner (In All the World)
world's end girlfriend

Death Cab for Cutie is good, but the rest are pretty ****. ^