That worked really well for Barenaked Ladies as well!
Hell no it isn’t! I’ve never heard of them, but I feel the need to go ask every record store in town for them now!
Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I have to throw in My Chemical Romance. I think that’s a great band name.
I want to play!!
In no particular order:
Nashville Pussy
It Bites
Spock’s Beard
Zilla
and a local Phoenix band, Jesus Chrysler, Supercar
Yes, I wondered about Them (I mean The Band.) I wonder what their name is and I can’t Guess Who.
Broken English was a national act in the early 80s. They did Eno-ish New Wave, with a Go4 bassline and muted guitar, minor chords on a Casio organ, female vocalist and suggestively random lyrics.
I like Rusted Root and Poi Dog Pondering. 
Really, were they American – maybe they went national? I’ll have to check on that, but they played locally in Louisville a lot in the late 70’s early 80’s.
Popped in again to mention one that I’m torn about: Toad the Wet Sprocket. I can’t decide if I hate it, or if it’s pure genius. Probably the latter.
Hey, you stole my entire post. Another band name that I dislike is Neutral Milk Hotel.
I tend to like simpler names, and one of the best, in my opinion, is Cursive.
You mean you Wonder Who their name is.
I liked Nirvana, both the band, and the name.
IIRC, Cobain chose it, and it had a tragic relevance for him: one definition of the word ‘nirvana’ is ‘total peace after death’ and it’s derived from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘a blowing out’.
Completely OT:
Another quasi-literal translation is “extinction.” Nirvana might be my favorite word in any language because of those connotations.
Just for the sheer badassedness it’s hard to beat Black Flag.
Also in the good column:
Mayhem
Motorhead
Grand Funk Railroad
High on Fire
Public Enemy
Helloween
Brutal Truth
Sick of It All
The Bad:
Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam
Husker Du
Right Said Fred
Gorillaz
The Ugly:
A.C. (I’m not spelling it out, and you don’t really want to know)
G.G. Allin and the Murder Junkies
Pungent Stench
Pissing Razors
Well, I can’t think of any reason why you’d lie. I just remember hearing them on a late-night “Import/Export” radio show when I was 14 or 15. Could evry well be two bands with the same name.
I was just talking to an old friend, and was reminded that she used to date a guy named Thing, who looked like a cross between Grog from B.C., Animal from The Muppet Show, and Charles Manson from, well, Corcoran State Prison. He was in a band with his brother (sometimes called Thing2) called The Fertility Rite Brothers.
British folk bands:
Deaf Shepherd
Edward II and the Red-Hot Polkas
The Barley Works
Three Men and a Dog
The studio my band rehearses at had three sheets of paper posted at the front door. . .“If you haven’t picked a name for your band yet, remember that these are taken:”
My few favorites:
Honest Bob and the Factory to Dealer Incentives
Kathleen Turner Overdrive
Fat Chick From Wilson Philips
Hornets Attack Victor Mature
The Dancing French Liberals of 1848
Names we came up with, but rejected:
High Atop Gary Coleman
Low Toner and the Feed Jam
Save Your Fork There’s Pie
The one we went with:
Suburban Genius. Not in the band anymore, but those names stuck with me
Some I like:
Bright Eyes
The Books
The Folk Implosion (the opposite of Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion, I think)
Taproot
Sun Kil Moon
I think The Who is one of the all time names. Simple, short, and a bit of a mindbender. It requires an out of the box thinking to recongnize that this might be something besides a verbal mistake.
I really like Rasputina. It’s pretty, it memorable and it fits their music well.
Spinal Tap also works really well as a band name.
I have too many of these to list, but I will echo the sentiment that Hoobastank is one of the all-time worst band names ever.
I will also agree that Slayer is one of the best band names (and one of the best bands) ever. As John Fishman put it in Phish’s video It (another great band name, btw), “if you are going to call yourself something like Slayer, you must slay… and they do!”
Band’s I used to see and love when I lived in Tallahassee had great names:
Darth Vader’s Church (they were forced thru a lawsuit from Lucasfilm to change the name to DVC)
Magic Juan
The Giving Heads
I Cheated Death
Gothic Playground
The Casual Ts
Gruel
Heck, even the clubs in Tallahasse had great names:
Late Night Library
The Milkbar
The Wherehouse
The Musical Moon
The Grand Finale
Cowhaus
and of course, I love the name of my own project band for rock and roll mayhem: Pittman Wash.
Actually, they’re from Virginia.
And depending on who you listen to, GWAR is either a nonsense word, or an acronym for God What an Awful Racket or Gay Women Against Rape (as seen in a panel of the Watchmen comic book).
The band was first concieved as an experiment in marketing strategy by a group of students at VCU, and thanks to a ridiculous and over-the-top stage show, quickly grew to epic proportions.
You can read more about them here.
Having met them on several occassions, I can tell y’all that they are a bunch of fun and funny people. They are almost as entertaining in real life as they are on stage, although there is less fake blood spurting everywhere when they are not on stage (real life can be so mundane).