THE RETRIEVER WEEKLY FOCUS February 9, 1999 PAGE 19 Band Natnes: The Good, The Bad, and The What the Hell Were they Thinking

MARTIN SHUSTER hundred drunk people would be quite dis­ net. Man) of you may be somewhat famil­ ADAM CRAIGMILES satisfied with them far from civilization. iar with the band since they ha\e recently Retrle\c'r \ltd!\ /;'duorilll Staff Kyuss hao.; monstrous riffs, which seem to catapulted into the mainstream "ith their What exactly i~ stoner rock? You've prob­ dc\elop and envelop into more and more. album. "Powcrtrip" (which yielded the Band names toda) ha' e become somewhat abl) heard it before and some say it could The band often improvises both l)rics and singles "Space Lord" and "PO\\ertrip"). f ridiculou::.. In the goud old days. musical he the next grunge. All of this is possible, music, and they rely heavily on the groove/ would haH: to say that their best album is groups had names which were simple and ca-;y but fir.,t let's attempt to sa) where it origi­ rhythm of their songs. The lyrics arc often still Spine of God. to understand. There arcn ·tthat many ways to nated. I guess iL'i true origin exists hard to understand, since they arc nc\ er While Monster Magnet is still around, imerpret names like The Supremes and The in Black Sabbath. However, perhaps the de­ printed in the CD. Kyuss' songs. heavy on Kyuss broke up in 1995. The reason'? They Temptations. However now we are bombarded fining hamb of the genre as we now know the irony, generally deal with the desert. so­ felt their record company wasn't promm­ b)' ~trange. anJ seemingly nonsensical titles. it arc Kyuss, and to a lesser extent. Monster ciety and individualism. Words cannot do ing them properly and that they would rather One or the old methods of band naming. ~lagnct. their sound justice. If you are moderatel) end their career on a high note. Ho\\ C\ cr. which has lately become extinct. is Ul>ing the Stoner rock: the name almost seems to interested in Kyuss. pick up a cop) of"Sk) in the past )'l!ar or so Kyuss reunion rumors lru.t name::. of the band members. Although this tell itself, implying an over-abundance of Valley" and be initiated! ha\'e been quite common. Who knows'? method may lack creati\ it). it allows for the pot, LSD. 7(h riff:-.. and cosmic l)rics. Of­ Meanwhile on the other side of the na­ California's Fu Manchu is a decent band. more ob~cure members (like drummers) to _ten \Cf) bass hea\ ). the riffs groove (think tion. in suburban Nc\\ Jcr)>cy. there was A good album to start with is their latest. obtain recognition. The problem arises. how­ "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf Monster Magnet frontman/guitaristlcom­ The Action is Go. with bassy nffs. lot~ of ever. in that not everyone's name is fitting for or "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath). The lyr­ poser, Dave Wyndorf. who grew up on way 70's influence, songs about drugs and cars. a title. Crosby, Silh. Nash, and Young may be ics deal with sex. society. individualism. and too many drugs. comic books, and sci~fi Queens of the Stone Age (Kyuss guitarist, easy enough to say. but this isn't always the oflcn stranger things like aliens. drugs and movies. I have an interview disc where Josh Homme's new band) is much lighter case. If a couple members from the Retriever hot-rods. Spontaneity and improvisation Wyndorf says, "At one point! was doing so than Kyuss and may even be considered decided to form a band, its name might be seem the norm (think Grateful Dead). much dope that it was a mind-altering ex­ poppy along the lines of Blur or Radiohead. Bushnell. Rothfus. Elgamil. Aurich, Soltez and Kyuss originated in the mid-80s, in the perience for me to be sober!" If you· re get­ Then there are bands from Europe like Or­ Tipitino. It doesn't exactly role off the tongue, scorching desert of Palm Desert. Califor­ ting some idea of what Monster Magent ange Goblin, and Electric Wizard. although it makes a great acronym. nia. The desert. as the) will attest, was a sounds like, you're probably still way off. If you are somewhat interested in the Using last names for a band can create a di­ big influence on their sound. Often Kyuss Imagine lyrics dealing with aliens, money, stoner rock genre, I suggest you pick up lemma. Who goes ft.rst: the one with the most would play for hours at a time at remote sex, power. mushrooms. more sex, acid­ Kyuss and Monster Magnet, and then visit talent. alphabetical order, or whoever wins the "beer-busts." held in the desert, in the trips, holidays, more sex and mix that with www.meteorciry.com and start learning paper-rock-scissors match? Such problems middle of the night, with a slew of drunken a healthy dose of Black Sabbath/Hawkwind more. I' ll leave you with the immortal words probably lead to the decline of such names. people. Kyuss had portable generators inspired music, and add to that of Dave Wyndorf when I first heard him A more popular method today deals with ab­ which they would bring and use them for Wyndorf's flare for eccentricity and you live: "We are Monster Magnet. and we stract or haphazard terms. Some bands are sim­ power. They had to be good, or else several start to get a decent picture of Monster Mag- raawwwwwkkkk.k!! !'' ply inspired by everyday things. For instance, a grocery list or a recent meal might serve as proper inspiration. as I'm sure The Cranber­ Maybe You Shouldn't Play That Funky ries. Kom. and Meat Loaf did. Still other bands are inspired by product labels like Creedance Clearwater Revival. a name borrowed from a Music, White Boy bottle label. Such borrowing practices have their Limits, though. Green Jelly was formally CHRIS KERNER white boys don't understand is that they need known as "Green Jell-0" until they were sued Rt·trte•·•·r \~eekly Editorlfll Staj} to firSt earn their props before they can re­ by the Jell-0 company. ceive them. You can'tjust stan rappin' about Other bands shoot for literary allusions in Dtd you hear about the ne\\ support group how you· renumber one without paying your their names. Stcppenwolf is also the name of that has just formed? Irs called WROAJ dues. a Herman He~~c nmel. Jim Morrison picked (White Rapper~ Out ot A Job). It onl) has No one believes Vanilla Icc when he boasL'i The Door.. from Aldus Huxle~ 's novel. The four members so far: Sno\\. 3"' Bass, House about getting all the ladies and earning 'mad Doors of Perception. Vcruca Salt is also the of Pain, and good or Vanilla ke. paper.· Real rappers tell stories about their name of a character from Willie Wonka and At last \\eck's meeting there \\as discus­ struggles and hov. they overcame them the Chocolate Factory hhe was the snotty girl ston of creating a greatest hits album. but then \\ hereas Vanilla Icc and company have no who wanted the Golden Goose eggs). they rcalitcd a CD with only four songs prob­ tales to tell. They all grew up in suburban. Another ~omcwhat popular method used by ably wouldn't sell. middle-class neighborhoods where the worst modern bands is to name themselves after Follov. ing the inaugural !>Oirec. all four thing that ever happens is the cable going out someone they admire. Icc T named himself one-hit \\Onder.. \\ere asked what they had during a thunderstorm. Their rhymes have a after an infamous Los Angeles pimp. whereas been up to since the release of their albums transparency that people can see right Lynard Skinnard used the name of their high in the early '90\. through. House or Pain. for example. over­ school g)' m coach. Perhaps one day there will ":\fy nev. informer is the unemployment plays the whole Irish bit on their album Fine be a UMBC band named Adam Craigmiles. office." replied Snov... "they let me know Malt Lyrics. They have one song entitled but I won "t hold my breath. "hen to come pick up my v..elfare check." ·'Shamrocks and Shenanigans" and another Still some other band names seem so bizarre 3"' Bass' response. "We've been writing a one named "Top of the Morning to Ya. ·• How that they appear to defy any logic. The Sneaker series of pop-up children's books about wea­ can anyone take them seriously when they Pimps are a good example. What in the world sels.'' come off so cliche? is a sneaker pimp? As it turns out, the name "That question's a tittle 'hard to swallow' If it weren' t for the Beastie Boys, there isn't a result of some archaic gibberish. Ap­ for me right no\\," commented Vanilla Icc. would be no hope for caucasian MC's ·any­ parently. The Beac;ue Boys hire people to find All kidding aside. though. \\by arc white more. Their debut album. "License to Ill." rare sneaker<; for them. who in tum are called rappers so quick to disappear from the music was, arguably, the best rap album ever made. sneaker pimps. The name Hootie and the scene? They're kind of like black hockey Ad Roc, MCA, and Mike D are to rap what Blowfish share a similar ~tory for their seem­ players in that there are so few or them and Jackie Robinson was to baseball. The only ingly nonsense name. The "Hootie'' stems from no one gives them any respect. What these problem is that there were quality African­ an owl-like boy from the band\ high school. American players that followed Robinson as whereas ''Biowfhh" was a nickname for an­ opposed to the rappers that followed the other high school friend with chubby checks. Beasties. The main thing they were able to Still. if a band fails to lind a clever name accomplish with their music was telling through the contemporary methods, the Inter­ things like they were. They don'ttry to fake net offers several band naming sites. Instead or proclaim their origins in the hood. Besides of stringing )OUr very own group of arbitr.uy that. they continue to produce ~tammin · beats words together. this "itc v. til do them for you. that everyone can enjoy. \1ost importantl). With a click ol a button, I named m) O\\n the Boys were able to pa\e the Wa) for the imaginal) band, Hideous Bamboo. To tell you future success of v.hite rappers which. un­ the truth. I found this name a bit more appeal­ fortunately, no one has taken ad' anlage of ing than most of the Jeal band names out there. yet.