5 cool Japanese band names

By Shay • Nov 16th, 2006 • Category: Japan, Opinion, humor, music     

I’m a fan of an array of Japanese musicians. Many of those artists, bands specifically have cool names that seem pretty normal to a native English-speaker such as myself. But amongst the heap of normal names emerge the bands with wierd/humorous/odd titles….cool names if you will.

Here is a list of some of the bands with “cool” names that popped into my head first. I can come up with a much longer list but time only allows for five.

MacDonald Duck Eclair

why their name is cool: Western surname + random animal + dessert treat = cool and random set of words that combine to form a funny-sounding name that listeners won’t forget.
why their music rocks: Their brand of picopop is unique and overly catchy. They make good use of distict synth melodies which are layered with soft, female vocals.

Hazel Nuts Chocolate

why their name is cool: The name sounds so sweet and the ’s’ on the end of ‘nuts’ adds to the difficulty of having a serious conversation involving this band.
why their music rocks: In addition to making me hungry, HNC produces cute and fun electronic music akin to that of MacDonald Duck Eclair.

Roly Poly Rag Bear

why their name is cool: Now this is one of the most adorable names I’ve come across…so innocent and I love the alliteration.
why their music rocks: This duo’s name does them justice…their music is nice and easy soft rock. Highly recommended if you wanna relax.

SLOTH LOVE CHUNKS

why their name is cool: This name is probably my favorite. It’s a great tribute to The Goonies and whether or not it’s a good thing to do, I can’t help but say the name in my Sloth-voice.
why their music rocks: This is former Number Girl bassist Kentarou Nakao’s new band. With that said, I don’t think I need to explain why their music rocks.

Spangle Call Lilli Line

why their name is cool: What a fun combination of seemingly random words. Plus it’s fun to try to write out in katakana!
why their music rocks: SCLL does an incredible job of blending electronica with post-rock to create their own unique, trademark sound.

 

Well, those are mine. What are your’s? Feel free to list and share some of your favorite bands with “cool” names. Thanks!

Shay is eating Yen and Won for breakfast.
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26 Responses »

  1. Ben on November 16th, 2006 at 8:51 pm:

    My favorite will always be Mr.Children! :-)

  2. Shay on November 16th, 2006 at 10:11 pm:

    Yeah I agree with that one Ben. When I first heard the name (a long, long time ago) I thought it sounded creepy. lol

  3. Toad on November 16th, 2006 at 11:14 pm:

    “MacDonald Duck Eclair = Western surname + random animal + dessert treat”

    I always thought the name came from smashing together McDonalds and Donald Duck. Was never sure about the eclair part.

  4. steve on November 17th, 2006 at 3:57 am:

    chicken king fucker

  5. Shay on November 17th, 2006 at 1:41 pm:

    Haha…^that one is awesome for sure ;)

  6. kevin on November 17th, 2006 at 2:19 pm:

    haha funny band names of which i only know scll. man they are awesome!
    lemme add some others to the list:
    blankey Jet city
    coaltar of the deepers
    thee michelle gun elephant

  7. Craig on November 17th, 2006 at 2:26 pm:

    Art School is still a cool name.

  8. Shay on November 17th, 2006 at 2:40 pm:

    kevin: yeah…those are good. TMGE is on my extended list definetly. Blankey Jet City is goodo too :).

    Craig: Art School is a cool name. It’s not odd or anything but surely ‘cool’.

    …I guess some of my other favorites include:
    Hoover’s Oover
    Melt Banana
    Shakalabbits
    Bump of Chicken
    Plus Tech Squeeze Box
    Singer Songer
    …ok, I gotta stop myself :P

  9. stavros on November 17th, 2006 at 7:13 pm:

    peelander z

  10. Shay on November 17th, 2006 at 7:40 pm:

    Heck yeah! “S.T.E.A.K.!”…their name is just as crazy as they are. =P

  11. Shay on November 18th, 2006 at 3:39 am:

    haha, oh! I almost forgot about the band: Bathtub Shitter. X_x

  12. Danno on November 18th, 2006 at 5:14 pm:

    Blood Stain Child

    Sounds gross….
    They are j-metal after all…

  13. Chantelle on November 18th, 2006 at 8:15 pm:

    Porno Graffiti is my favorite Japanese band name. Those are still really cool though.

  14. Ben Tong on November 19th, 2006 at 2:56 am:

    haha Chantelle. Yea Porno Graffiti is cool too! Their song “Melissa” is pretty good too!

  15. Shay on November 19th, 2006 at 5:13 pm:

    If we’re talking popular bands I’d definetly add SMAP and SPITZ to the list ‘o funny names. ;)

  16. rags on November 28th, 2006 at 8:29 am:

    “Garlic boys” is, and always will be, the greatest band name in japanese music history.

  17. Shay on November 28th, 2006 at 11:48 am:

    haha…yeah, that’s a good one!

    another great band name that i just discovered is SALMON MOUSSE PAPA. ?_?

  18. Shay on November 30th, 2006 at 12:00 pm:

    …another one: Sadistic Mikaela Band

    :P

  19. Duncan on December 13th, 2006 at 8:10 am:

    Sludgy Bunny

    Don’t know what they sound like, just love the name.

  20. PIzza on January 6th, 2007 at 7:58 pm:

    JAPANZIES! These band names suck. PERIOD. They all talk about food or being fat.

  21. lukey on January 30th, 2007 at 9:20 am:

    watys on about Pizza guy all japanese music rocks =D it’s the most awesome music in the world.PERIOD!

  22. lukey on January 30th, 2007 at 9:25 am:

    p.s. polysics are awesome !

  23. Vandigo on June 28th, 2007 at 9:59 pm:

    My favorite band name ever . . . Cynical Biscuit . . . . . YEAH . . . How random is that? XD

  24. J00 on July 11th, 2007 at 12:15 pm:

    Dir en Grey. Maximum the Hormone. Gackt. Asian Kung Fu Generation. … band…

  25. Leland on February 16th, 2008 at 9:08 pm:

    OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, bloodthirsty butchers

  26. acene on February 26th, 2008 at 3:39 am:

    i loooooooooooooooove the bands but ………?*&^%#@nothing?he he he

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