What makes a good band name?

There are a number of factors involved, in my estimation. I tend to prefer band names that are plural (Jayhawks, for instance) but others disagree. I think that band names should avoid being too long ("And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead", for instance, is too long). I would say no more than three words, though some exceptions may apply.

But it's not long names I am interested in talking about today, it's short ones. Short and generic ones. Ones you can't google. It may be the computer nerd in me that says as much, but bands ought to increasingly consider the googlability of a band's name.

A classic example would be the band Live. The good news for that name, I guess, is that even during the heyday of Napster it was difficult to find their music. They're big enough that if you put "live band" in google you will find some information, but that would be pretty difficult to pull off these days.

Recently I've become interested in a couple of bands that it is rather difficult to get information on. The first is an pot-country band out of Sacramento named Jackpot. Not only are there a couple bands out there named Jackpot, but like Live it's littered with completely irrelevent links. If I didn't already know that they're from Sacramento, I never would have been able to find their website. Another band is Missouri alt-country outfit Hadacol, who found a long time ago on eMusic. I was wondering if they had new stuff, but because they named themselves after an established product, I really have no way of finding out.

My best friend was in a band called The Drinks, which was doubly bad. They were a quite talented group, but who is going to stop at a bar when all it says on the marquee is "Tonight... The Drinks"... do they even know it's a band? Hadacol and Jackpot would run into the same problem, the former being a type of drink and the latter possibly implying gambling night or something.

So not only are these names bland, but they're quite impractical.

So to anyone naming a band: don't give your band a lame name.

Next lesson: Don't have a lame website. Jackpot really needs a new one. Complain, complain...