rock band names

rock band names

In the category of odd band names, UUVVWWZ is one of the odder sorts I've heard about lately. That it's pronounced long form as "Double U Double V Double W, Zee" instead of going phonetically by how it's spelled also works as part of the strange. It also gets you mighty curious as to what this band is all about. After all, I initially gave their self-titled debut album a listen for exactly that reason. So before you think about doing the same, let me try and provide some information about the band that might enable you to make a better decision about them before simply jumping in. My immediate admiration for UUVVWWZ stems largely from the number of risks they take on their debut. Here is a band that could quite easily make accessible rock music that might attract a large number of fans, but they instead choose to challenge themselves and avoid pratfalls like a verse-chorus-verse structure and White Stripes-esque garage rock fodder. Their songs range from loud rock spazz-outs to quieter ballads and a grand mixture of both. All of this insanity is held together by frontwoman Teal Gardner, whose powerful voice goes from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Alison Mosshart of The Kills to Satomi Matsuzaki of Deerhoof to Jemina Pearl formerly of Be Your Own Pet in one fell swoop and sometimes in a single song.

the song that made rock history

the song that made rock history

This past Thursday 09 july 2009, at the Eagle Tavern a band from San Francisco’s illustrious punk rock history past played a live show for the first time in 20 years. That band was Housecoat Project, led by vocalist/provocateur/punk rock diva Meri St. Mary who formed the band in 1984 with guitarist Eric Rad. In 1985 while playing a gig at the famous Mabuhay Gardens, Eric Rad was electrocuted and died mid song onstage. After this tragic loss, Meri, Erol Cengis on bass, and drummer Michel Schorro decided to keep Housecoat Project going and they recruited guitarist Jay Crawford from another legendary and amazing local band Bomb. Later Bob Bartosik on saxophone joined as well, completing the line-up. This band recorded the album Wide Eye Doo Dat on Subterranean Records in 1987, which was a promising and interesting release that garnered a fair amount of attention and good reviews with its unusual punk rock-collides-into-blues-and-abstract-jazz stylings and the tough-living city girl lyrics and vocals of SF punk siren Meri St. Mary. It was a great record with amazing cover art featuring a Van Gogh-esque painting or self portrait of Van Gogh holding his severed ear with the discs title emblazoned across the top. I also learned that there is a whole album worth of unreleased HP music soon to be put out by Subterranean, who’ve had it in their vaults for 20 years.