Not To Be Confused With...

Developing an encyclopedic knowledge of music is a tricky business, requiring one to memorize all sorts of names, album titles, release dates, and arcana. More often than not, though, it's the names that trip people up. As time goes on, there are just so many bands to keep track of that it becomes a maddening process to keep it all straight. Allow me to present some easily confused bands and artists and how to distinguish them for everyday, music nerd conversation.


The Rapture, Not To Be Confused With Rapture
The Rapture are an indie rock dance/punk band. Rapture are a metal band from Finland. 'Rapture' is also a hit song by Blondie which featured semi-embarrassing rapping from Debbie Harry. But that's neither here nor there. How to keep them straight in your head?? Repeat this sentence to yourself: "Rapture would rupture my ear drums, but The Rapture covering 'Rapture' by Blondie would be either the best thing ever or completely terrible."

The Sea and Cake, Not To Be Confused With Cake
While this one may not be quite as tricky, it's worth going over just in case. The Sea and Cake is a breezy, jazzy indie pop band from Chicago. Cake is a vaguely Beck-ish alt. rock band mostly known for the singles 'The Distance', 'Never There', and 'Short Skirt/Long Jacket.' Music nerd fact: The Sea and Cake's name came from a song by Chicago-scene-legends Gastr Del Sol entitled 'The C In Cake', on which a future member of The Sea and Cake played. Anyway, repeat this sentence to yourself: "I like Cake because they helped me realize that I, too, like vaguely Beck-ish songs about girls in short skirts and long jackets; however, I like The Sea and Cake more because they helped me realize that, as with eating cake every day, I like hearing what amounts to mostly the same album recorded in different ways over and over."

Wolf Parade, Not To Be Confused With Wolf Eyes, Not To Be Confused With Frog Eyes, Not To Be Confused With The Frogs
This one's a pretty tangled web, so I'll dig right in. Wolf Parade is an indie rock band who've recorded two really great albums so far. Wolf Eyes is an experimental noise band who I can't stand to listen to because it hurts and I'm a coward. Frog Eyes, sometimes featuring a member of Wolf Parade on keyboards, is a skewed indie rock band with a crazed, energetic frontman and remind me of the mania of Pere Ubu despite sounding very little like them. The Frogs are a jokey lo-fi indie pop band active from the late 80s to now, who kind of remind me of Beat Happening only they write songs about being gay (despite not being gay) and other ironic things. So, how do you keep these four bands straight?? Repeat this sentence: "I would march in the Wolf Parade because they record great indie rock, unlike Wolf Eyes, who produce painful noise, though I'm torn on Frog Eyes and The Frogs because the frontman of Frog Eyes scares me and I think The Frogs are just a jokier, not-as-good Beat Happening."

Soft Machine, Not To Be Confused With The Secret Machines or The Soft Boys, The Latter Of Which Should Not Be Confused With The Dead Boys
Since I've never listened to any of these bands, I find it hard to keep them straight. However, they're all very different so putting them down on paper helps a bit. So, then: Soft Machine are a prog rock band from the 70s who eventually became quite jazzy and introduced Robert Wyatt to the world before he left the band, became paralyzed, and made a career out of pretty great music (from what I'm told). The Secret Machines are a sort-of-proggy trio from Texas who record music which begs the question "what if Pink Floyd or Rush grew up in the 90s and sucked??" The Soft Boys can best be summarized, from a cursory listen of YouTube clips, as the missing link between Syd Barrett and punk rock. Finally, the Dead Boys were one orthodox product of the break-up of proto-punk legend Rocket From The Tombs, the other product being the post-punk/new wave/Captain Beefheart-worshipping Pere Ubu. Repeat this sentence to yourself: "I like Soft Machine because they recorded good prog rock, unlike the crappy modern day Secret Machines; at the same time, I much prefer the Soft Boys to the Dead Boys because the Soft Boys were weird and psychedelic and the Dead Boys were, well, just a decent punk rock band."

The Silver Apples, Not To Be Confused With Silver Jews
Well, this one's pretty straightforward, and for the record, both bands are awesome (even if the new Silver Jews album is crap). The Silver Apples were one of those "way ahead of their time" late 60s/early 70s bands that were influential and revolutionary in retrospect. In this case, they were an early electronic music duo who expertly blended experimental keyboard/synthesizer textures and psychedelic melodies with funky/jazzy drumming, recalling German contemporaries like Can and Neu!, only more catchy. Meanwhile, Silver Jews is the country tinged indie rock project of singer/songwriter David Berman, originally (and mistakenly) thought of as a Pavement side project. Fun fact: 'silver jew' is a term for Jewish people with blond hair. Keeping them straight is easy, but I still sometimes flub up. Repeat this sentence: "The Silver Apples were way ahead of their time, with funky electro-psychedelic grooves, and equally timeless as the Silver Jews, who, despite being an indie rock band from modern times, could easily have fit into the singer/songwriter craze of the early to mid 70s."

Gang Of Four, Not To Be Confused With Gang Gang Dance
This one's a bit tricky because not only are their names kind of similar, but their sound is, too. Gang of Four were an ahead-of-their-time punk band from late 70s England who mixed funk and reggae into their sound, later inspiring a whole scene of American indie rockers like The Rapture and Liars to pick up this 'dance punk' thread. Gang Gang Dance is among many modern bands--like Liars, Animal Collective, TV on the Radio, and others--who combine primitive, hypnotic drumming, noise, pop, effects pedals, and unique vocals in such a way as to sound totally distinct and yet sounding of a similar movement. Repeat this sentence to yourself: "Gang of Four were a funky punk band from the late 70s which inspired modern bands like Gang Gang Dance, who combine hypnotic drumming with experimental rock kind of like Liars."