Return of Linguistic Band Names
Eric, back at phonoloblog, laments at being scooped on Richness of the Bass, but comes up with a few more excellent ones himself. My favorites: Counterbleeding Interaction (or even just Counterbleeding), Factorial Typology and Generalized Alignment. Are these my favorite because of how they sound or because they happen to be some of my favorite phonological processes? This I don't know.
Nor do I know what makes something a good band name or how certain band names connote certain genres. Definitely something worth thinking about though. If corporations pay millions to naming consultants for their products, why not Geffen...
Definite plural nouns, or even just definites, for example, convey being from England or having a British sound. Witness The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Pogues and The Stone Roses. I think that even the American band The Ramones were hoping (perhaps subconsciously) for a The Clash/The Sex Pistols English punk association with their choice of names.
Mono-syllabic words used to connote guitar-riff-heavy artiness, or the mirage of artiness a la Yes, Kiss, Rush, and Cream. What of the current crop: Eels (note the absence of "the), Air and Muse?
This is something to come back to, but no discussion of band names and linguistics is complete without reference to the new band !!!, pronounced, as you IPA junkies might expect, as 3 alveolar clicks. I don't know the origin of the IPA symbol, and this band may be alluding to whatever led the IPA to choose ! for this sound in the first place, but I think this is the first popular band name to directly use an IPA symbol that isn't otherwise an English or European orthographic convention.
Nor do I know what makes something a good band name or how certain band names connote certain genres. Definitely something worth thinking about though. If corporations pay millions to naming consultants for their products, why not Geffen...
Definite plural nouns, or even just definites, for example, convey being from England or having a British sound. Witness The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Pogues and The Stone Roses. I think that even the American band The Ramones were hoping (perhaps subconsciously) for a The Clash/The Sex Pistols English punk association with their choice of names.
Mono-syllabic words used to connote guitar-riff-heavy artiness, or the mirage of artiness a la Yes, Kiss, Rush, and Cream. What of the current crop: Eels (note the absence of "the), Air and Muse?
This is something to come back to, but no discussion of band names and linguistics is complete without reference to the new band !!!, pronounced, as you IPA junkies might expect, as 3 alveolar clicks. I don't know the origin of the IPA symbol, and this band may be alluding to whatever led the IPA to choose ! for this sound in the first place, but I think this is the first popular band name to directly use an IPA symbol that isn't otherwise an English or European orthographic convention.
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