Top 5 Band Names of Actual Bands Playing in Chicago Soon

As you loyal mC readers know, we love discussing band names. Like a first impression on a blind date, a band name subconsciously establishes a positive or negative connotation for the audience right off the bat. A great band name can bring in a crowd strictly on comedic curiosity (I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness), while a band with a poor name has to work that much harder to prove its worth (Chin Chin). So once again, we give props to the bands with the best names making their way through the Middle in the coming months:

5. Plastic People of the Universe @ The Hideout, 9/18 (and again as part of The Hideout Block Party, 9/20)

4. Urge Overkill (a classic, AND they're from Chicago) @ Bottom Lounge, 7/12

3. Thao With The Get Down Stay Down @ Empty Bottle, 8/9

2. Natalie Portman's Shaved Head @ Subterranean, 8/14

1. Dr. Acula* @ Reggie's Rock Club, 7/22

*Full disclosure: Dr. Acula not only made the list but jumped directly to numero uno because we were under the impression that the name is a direct reference to the '80s classic film, Monster Squad, in which Dracula is disguised as a friendly neighbor, Dr. Acula. However, our memory is for shit, and that may not actually be the case - it may have just been that the letters D-R-A-C-U-L-A were jumbled in some way to create a phony name, and then the kid has to descramble them to decipher the true persona. Nevertheless, since the band name made us think of the movie at all, it remains number one. In related Monster Squad news, you can buy the two-disc 20th anniversary edition on DVD for 15 bucks, or watch the whole thing in six-and- a-half minute chunks on YouTube for free. By the way, if you're really only interested in viewing the famous "Wolfman's got nards" scene, go straight to segment 9.

ANYWAY, numbers 2 and 3 on the list are really great up-and-coming acts. Here's a sampling:

Thao With The Get Down Stay Down, "Bag of Hammers"


Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, "Me + Yr Daughter"


-J2