Eagles Of Death Metal - Rock on!

On Friday, November 13th, 2015 they were on the stage of the Paris Bataclan theater when terrorists raged there in a hideous fashion.

At that moment the band was not quite prepared to consider this route to world fame.

But so be it: now we all know that Eagles Of Death Metal is not a real death metal band, but a garage rock band from Palm Desert (California). A social media action made EODM song Save A Prayer, a Duran Duran cover, a popular download.

The Eagles Of Death Metal have just two permanent members: guitarists Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. The latter is involved with other bands as well and is not always present at every gig; he was absent in Paris.

The band name came to life when Jesse and Josh criticized a friend who in their minds had a bad musical taste.

Their friend hit back hard: he said the band of Jesse and Josh had every right to the name Eagles Of Death Metal.

That was no sweet talk.

Rock on!

Active: 1998-present, US
Site: http://eaglesofdeathmetal.com/home

See also: Duran Duran

We donate: https://www.thesweetstufffoundation.org/

Pulp

Indie rock band from Sheffield, built up around frontman Jarvis Cocker, who never very clearly contradicted rumors that he is a brother or a cousin of Joe Cocker – even though the only thing that relates Jarvis to Joe is that they are both from Sheffield.

Initially the band was to be called simply Pulp, after the movie of that name starring Michael Caine -but that was considered to be too short.

When the band found a list in The Financial Times of so-called economic commodities (products sold by many different companies, but interchangeable because of their uniform qualities) they took one of the examples from the list: Arabica coffee. The name was changed a bit (in Arabacus) and then Pulp was blended in, producing the name Arabacus Pulp.

In the end, after many personnel changes, the band name was shortened again to the originally intended Pulp.

And only then the successes came to the band that made music described by some as a cross between ABBA and The Fall.

Active: 1978-2002; 2011, GBR
Site: http://www.pulppeople.com/

See also: ABBA, Fall

Crystal Method - Choice stress

In a scene where sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll reign supreme it is only natural to suspect an association of band names with recreational drugs. That also goes for Crystal Method, an electronic music production duo from Los Angeles that provided compositions for among others television shows, movies, video games and commercials.

Not a few see a reference in the band name to crystal methamphetamine or crystal meth. In that case the correct reading of the band name will have to be: Crystal Meth OD (where OD, of course, stands for overdose).

Yet the the way the name actually materialized appears to be much more innocent.

The duo initially had to deal without the convenience of a car and was driven to and from the studio in the car of a friend, a certain Crystal. As a result, when the two were making travel arrangements, the phrase 'We'll use the Crystal method' was often heard.

Some sources maintain that both band members were in love with the accomodating Crystal, who refused to give a definitive answer to the question which of the two musicians she preferred. When they informed a friend about their situation, he exclaimed: 'Ah, the Crystal Method!'.

Active: 1993-present, USA
Site: http://thecrystalmethod.com/

Cro-Mags - Reminder

Hardcore punks and trashers from New York City.

The band name is a contraction of the term Cro-Magnon.

Cro-Magnon man is one of our prehistoric ancestors from the late Paleolithic (by the Homo sapiens in the street it is known as the Stone Age).

The creature owes its name to its provenance: Cro-Magnon, near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil in the French Dordogne area.

Their art reminds us of our roots.

Active: 1982-present, USA
Site: http://www.cromags.com/

Insane Clown Posse

Hip hop duo originating from Delray and Detroit, Michigan that produces horrorcore.

The duo consists of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who rather go through life as wicked clowns with the alibis Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope.

There are not many musical combos with so many explanations for their band name, one crazier or more mysterious than the other.

What follows now is a literal representation of one of the countless colorful posts on the Internet, to give you an impression of this genre:

'They were originally named Inner City Posse, which was a gang composed of Violent J, Shaggy, Jumpsteady (J's brother), Rude Boy, Shaggy's brother John and a few others.

After pressure from rival gangs everyone dropped out and it was left to Violent J, Shaggy and John. They decided they were going to become real serious rappers, full time.

They were first the JJ Boys but this was never really pointed out a lot.

After [that], Violent J, Shaggy, and John Kick-Jazz (Shaggy's brother) started rapping under the name Inner City Posse. But after Dogbeats, their first major (according to them) release, John left the group to live with his girlfriend.

Shaggy and J decided to change the name but wanted to keep the initials because they fit. They came up with several ideas until Violent J remembered his dreams about the clown he chased in Delray, so they came up with Insane Clown Posse.'

Active: 1989-present, USA
Site: http://www.insaneclownposse.com/

Sum 41

If you like melodic hardcore you should be comfortable with Sum 41.

The kabalistic-style band name can be explained in two ways, both of which have to do with money.

One theory is that if you look at which special characters there are on a keyboard above the numbers '4' and '1', you will find the combination '$!' - the band from Canadian Ajax goes for the big money, apparently.

The other explanation is that if you take a quarter (25 cents), a dime (10 cents), a nickel (5 cents) and a penny (1 cent), you are holding a total of 41 cents. Sum 41 does not sneeze at small change either it seems.

For your consideration: nine cents more and they would have been called 50 Cent.

Active: 1996-present, CAN
Site: http://www.sum41.com/

Wiseblood - Not for Christ's sake

Electronic noise rock band from Melbourne, circulating around the talents of singer, composer and producer James George Thirlwell (born 1960), also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want of Foetus.

James' band produced - as he himself put it - 'violent macho American music made by non-Americans'.

Wise Blood (two words) is the title of a novel by Flannery O'Connor from 1952, in which the main character plans to found a 'church without Christ'.

Active: 1987-1991, AUS

Sunn O)))

Pronounced simply as Sun, the name of this band from Seattle, Washington specializing in drone metal, experimental music and noise.

Sunn O))) is a kind of graphical representation of the logo of the famous Sunn amplifiers: that logo consists of the name SUNN, followed by a circle and three 'sun rays' fanning out to the right.

But in several interviews guitarist, composer and producer Stephen O'Malley has stated that Sun O))) is also related to the band Earth, known as a pioneer of drone music. The Sun revolves around the Earth, Stephen is said to have joked.

Add to this the fact that Sun O))) formerly went through life under the name Mars and it is clear: we are dealing here with a cosmic phenomenon.

Active: 1998-present, USA
Site: http://www.ideologic.org/

Wet Dreams

Punk and psychedelia band from Atlanta, Georgia.

For an explanation of the band name: see Nocturnal Emissions.

Active: 2005-present, USA
Site: http://www.myspace.com/thewetdreams

Styx - The long way home

Masters in mixing rock genres (prog, power, hard) with elements originating from the American theatre world.

The band from Chicago, Illinois accepted its name with some reluctance after a list of alternatives had been presented to the members.

According to former singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung Styx was 'the only name that none of us hated'.

For completeness' sake: the Styx is the river that in Greek mythology divides earth and the underworld (Hades).

The course of the river can hardly be called a perfect example of efficiency: reportedly the Styx circles the underworld nine times.

Active: 1970-1984; 1989-1992; 1995-present, USA
Site: http://www.styxworld.com/