They’re from Where??
August 3rd, 2011
Okay, this has nothing to do with comics, but it’s on my mind, so…
Sky and I have noticed a difference between bands of my generation, and more recent bands we like.
Whereas old bands like Boston, Chicago, and Kansas all formed in the city or state they’re named for, check out these geographically baffling examples from recent years…
Of Montreal: From Athens, Georgia.
Architecture in Helsinki: From Australia.
The Middle East: Also from Australia!
Beirut: From Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I’m From Barcelona: From Sweden.
So what’s up, global music scene? Why are you messing with our heads??
March 3, 2021
Add to that A Sunny Day In Glasgow… from Philadelphia.
A few more 🙂
Aston Villa : France
Saint-Etienne : England
Texas : Scotland
Idaho : LA, California
Uncommonmenfrommars : France
One counterfactual: Portishead, the UK trip hop duo, are named after the town they are from. But the only others I can think of, Boards of Canada (Scottish) and Venetian Snares (Canadian) are also named after far away places.
The band ‘Eddie From Ohio’ is from Virginia.
I want to see a triple bill with Eddie from Ohio, I Come from Shanghai, and I’m From Barcelona!
When cultural commodities had to fight for attention on retail shelves, the fight for an association with a location was no less an epic struggle to occupy a bottle-necked field of vision. With cultural portals more crowded due to the more open access of the internet, association with a location only made you one of another crowded field. There’s more individuality to be picked-up from how we present lies than from the crowded inventory of our lives.
Ah, someone has already covered Eddie From Ohio!
Let’s see, hmm… Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet were from Toronto. 😉
There’s “Dover”. They’re from Spain. =)
and Spain are from LA…
The Wombats- Liverpool
There’s a city call Wombats?
Beach Boys?
Not as modern a phenomenon as one might think.
Berlin – from LA
Japan – from England
I Come from Shanghai is in Atlanta, Ga.
Now now, its not wise to lay down blanket statements like “more recent bands.”
How can you forget Asia?
Boards of Canada – from Scotland
Hannah Montana is from Tennessee.
Manchester Orchestra is from Athens, GA
The Bay City Rollers (Edinburgh).
Alabama 3 (also called A3) are from London. They did the Theme song for the Sopranos.
Forward, Russia! are from Leeds, England.
I’m fairly sure Toto aren’t from Kansas…or Oz.
Asia…not from Asia.
From the 80s: Hanoi Rocks was from Helsinki.
Thirty Seconds to Mars is from 36 million miles from Mars at best.
Ah, but at light speed…?
Angra, from São Paulo; Baiano, from Ceará (he can be forgiven, though, cause he’s doing a parody of Novos Baianos); Engenheiros do Hawaii, from porto Alegre; and Jupiter Apple, from Earth.
Texas is the Reason – from New York
The Afghan Whigs from Cincinnati, Ohio
Frankie Goes To Hollywood are from Liverpool
Also the Afghan Whigs are from Cincinnati…and probably aren’t Whigs either
Here are a few more:
Rammstein is from Berlin.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is from New York City.
Narnia is not from Narnia.
The Bay City Rollers are from Scotland.
Barcelona is from Virginia.
Alabama 3 is from the UK.
Berlin is from Los Angeles.
Cairo is from San Francisco.
The Dresden Dolls are from Boston.
Cuba is from the UK.
Nantucket is from North Carolina.
The Nashville Teens are from the UK.
The Utah Saints are from the UK.
Delaware is from Norway.
Hiroshima is California.
Portishead is from Bristol, although it’s near Portishead.
Halifax is from California.
Joy Division was originally called Warsaw and were from Manchester.
Portugal The Man is from Wasilla, Alaska.
Mannheim Steamroller is from Omaha.
Asia is from the UK.
Can’t believe we missed the Dresden Dolls!
I wonder if there are sister bands out there, e.g., if Halifax is from California, should a Halifax band name themselves California?
Can I just say that I’m kind of impressed at your list of bands? They’re not the most obscure, I suppose (not being snobby, I’m just not sure I’m qualified to judge obscurity), but most of the lists I read on big-time blogs like this seem to count the Arcade Fire as some sort of weird fringe music, and are totally ignorant of anything more obscure than that.
Also, not quite the name of a place, but El Perro Del Mar is a Swedish woman who sings in English. I think José González has a similar deal (but he is half-Argentinian).
And Harlem Shakes are (were?! Oh no!) from Brooklyn, I think.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I couldn’t name you a song by the Middle East. Sky offered that one.
Of Montreal and Architecture in Helsinki are the two I know best. The whole family adores OM.
The Middle East is really fantastic, you take that recommendation seriously. Plus, I think they’re probably gonna get bigger because they were just in the soundtrack in Crazy, Stupid, Love (unfortunate for indie cred, very fortunate for a deserving band).
Ooh wait! Phoenix! They’re French! From Versailles.
That I knew; but it never occurred to me they might have had the city in mind. I was thinking the mythical bird!
Ooh! Ooh! I got one!
“Tokio Hotel”, from Germany.
The Dead Sea – from Preston UK
Phoenix is from Versaille, France.
Alberta seems popular these days — with bands not from Alberta:
Alberta Cross (from NYC)
Rural Alberta Advantage (from Toronto)
They’re orignally from Edmonton though! Always a treat when they make it back out here.
Don’t forget Kamelot! They’re from Tampa, Florida.
Nashville P****y is from Atlanta
Abney Park – from Seattle
Buffalo Springfield – not from either. (Named for a Steamroller company, which was presumably named for the cities.)
I was going to suggest Europe, but it turns out they’re Swedish, which counts as being part of Europe, so nevermind.
Nirvana are from Earth.
Tokyo Police Club are from Ontario, not Tokyo, but at least Calexico are from Tucson, Arizona, which is fairly near to Calexico, California.
And keeping in line with you old bands/new bands distinction, The Ohio Players were, in fact, from Ohio.
How about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas…From Japan.
Defunct (but excellently named) post-rock band Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia were from Oxford (UK).
Presumably I’m From Barcelona are fans of Fawlty Towers…?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kqyev46qyI
They SHOULD be. That show kicked a$$!
Here’s one of my favorites–the band Alaska in Winter is currently based out of New Mexico.
Birds of Tokyo are another misleadingly named Australian band
…as are Trout Fishing in Quebec.
Defiance, Ohio are from Bloomington, Indiana.
I guess these bands are just thinking outside of the box, or the city, or state, country, region, continent, hemisphere, etc.
Brazilian Girls are not Brazilian, and at least some of them are not even girls. The outrage!
Don’t forget Danzig (actually from New Jersey)!
There is a Brazilian band called Fresno.