SPIN

Welcome to the weekly SPIN.com feature "Name That Band" inwhich we get the inside stories behind the mysterious monikers of some ofour favorite artists. (See past episodes of Name That Band! here.)

This week: A multi-band CMJ edition!

Why Phil and the Osophers: "I really like the concept of the name," says Phil Radiates, the quirky Brooklyn indie-pop band's singer-guitarist. "Not the fact that it's a pun, but that it throws people off. It was funny to have the 'and the Osophers' part when it was just me. It was like deconstructing the concept of the band name. Now I play with a band and it still makes sense. But originally I just wanted to stay away from the normal form of band names, which is an adjective followed by a noun."

Previously Rejected Names: "There wasn't any rejected names, but sometimes when we're trying out new material we play under the name Screen Gems."

Best Band Names Ever: "The Feelies is probably my favorite band name. It rolls off the tongue. I also like musicians whose names make them sound larger than life: Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Duke Ellington."

Worst Band Name Ever: "I think the least original thing you can do is name your band after another band's song. Like Stars of Track and Field, which is named after a Belle and Sebastian song. Pretty Girls Make Graves were named after a Smiths song. Unless you really intend to be the next version of that band, I think it's a really unoriginal thing to do."

LISTEN: Phil and the Osophers, "Creators"

Why Chain Gang of 1974: "Towards the end of 2006 I was in a band that I knew was going to break up," remembers Kamtin Mohager, the Denver synth-rock project's only permanent member. "I was thinking aboutstarting my own thing. At the time I was listening non-stop to the Raveonettes' album Chain Gang of Love. I love that record. And my friends make fun of me for it, but I'm also a huge Ryan Adams fan. One of my favorite songs of his is off of Rock N Roll called '1974.' I just put the two together and got my name."

Previously Rejected Names: "There was only one: I was thinking about calling it Haight-Ashbury."

Best Band Names Ever: "I like band names that somehow suggest the band's vibe. I love the Psychedelic Furs, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo and the Bunnymen. For more recent bands, I think Tame Impala is a sweet name."

Worst Band Name Ever: "I love the band, but Jefferson Starship is a terrible name. I'm not a huge fan of Vampire Weekend or We Are Scientists either. I'm not dogging the music, I just don't understand the names."

LISTEN: The Chain Gang Of 1974, "Don't Walk Away"

Why Vagina Panther:"Like all good things in the world, the name's origin is completely random," says Dead June, singer-guitarist for the Brooklyn, New York, garage-rockers. "Trent [Good] and Jonathan [Swass], who are the bassist and the drummer, were hanging out with friends and someone said the word 'vagina' at the same time as someone else in a different conversation said 'panther.' And the guys were, like, 'That's the best band name ever!' That was about five years ago. We've actually had discussions recently about changing the name. It might be too shticky."

Previously Rejected Names: "Once we heard Vagina Panther we knew that was it. But some of the names we've been talking about changing it to are L.A. Gay, Teen Boner, and Dick Wolfe, which is the opposite of the name we have now. I realize that none of those names are any less shticky than Vagina Panther."

Best Band Names Ever: "Rocket From the Crypt. Stiff Little Fingers. We played with a band called the Gay Blades — that's a really cool name. Angry Samoans is another good one."

Worst Band Name Ever: "J. Geils Band. Steve Miller Band. The Band. We all really hate the name 'the Band.'"

LISTEN: Vagina Panther, "Pressure Check"

Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.: "We'd recorded some music and were thinking of a name," explains Joshua Epstein, singer-keyboardist for the whimsical Detroit synth duo. "We wanted something that wasn't too serious and that wouldn't discourage anyone from listening to us. We were thinking of really accessible, very American things and we thought of NASCAR. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems so down to earth. People relate to him so easily. We want people to gravitate to us they way they do to him. It's not like we're NASCAR fans, we just wanted that inclusivity."

Previously Rejected Names: "The Counting Crows Part 2 was a close second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.," admits singer-guitarist Daniel Zott. "We also considered Use Your Illusion 4."

Best Band Names Ever: "The Bee Gees is a kinda sweet name," says Epstein. "Wu-Tang Clan is also great."

Worst Band Name Ever: For Zott, "Maroon 5 is a really bad name. The Beach Boys is a horrible name, but no one cares because they're so good. 311 is probably the worst band name ever. Especially if you say it 'Three hundred eleven.'"

LISTEN: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., "Nothing But Our Love"

Why Goes Cube: "It wasn't just me who had the eureka moment, it was also the original bass player, Matt Frey," recalls DavidObuchowski, singer-guitarist for the Brooklyn alt-metal trio. "We were living in different cities at the time — he was in New York and I was in Chicago — and we'd send each other these jokingly abusive emails. We'd translate the most abusive parts of the emails into German using an online translator, then we'd translate them back into English because it was funny to see how the translations changed the words. In one of these emails, Matt had written 'Go die.' Once we finished the translation process, that phrase came back as 'Goes Cube.' I think the translator understood die as, like, the singular of dice. That got changed into cube. We were like, 'We need to start a band called Goes Cube.' We just loved it. We didn't even entertain the idea of other band names."

Previously Rejected Names: "Like I said, we immediately went with Goes Cube, but I was in another band called Syntax! Facist. I was in one called Bumpy Face. And there was another one called Robototron. We'd get really offended if people called us Robotron."

Best Band Names Ever: "Parts and Labor is an awesome name. Boards of Canada is awesome. Old Man Gloom is amazing. Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia — I love that name. I've also always loved the Smiths. When you think of a name as good as the Smiths, you're going to get some attention. The universe is not going to let a name that good go to waste."

Worst Band Name Ever: "Goes Cube is a pretty bad name. Generally, New York City bands have some bad band names. You have all these bands named after animals: Wolf this, Deer that. Then there's Crystal this and Crystal that. We need to stop with the animal and nature-based names."

LISTEN: Goes Cube, "Saab Sonnet"