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On Evolution, we play and feature a wide variety of the best British Columbia has to offer in the indie and alternative rock categories. Your favourite band is probably on our list, listen for yourself here! I always laugh at the names of some of these bands when they come up on our radio logs. Indie bands are notoriously bad for this. I want you to think up a list of all the indie bands you know, how many of their names are obscure nouns, oddly specific phrases, or even surnames?

Probably a quarter of them, maybe even more. What is it about being an indie band that requires you to have a name like this? Going down a broad list of Canadian indie bands, I see names like Peach Pit, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Land of Talk, July Talk. The hardest part about being an indie band must be picking your name, because every possible combination of words has already been taken by another indie group. You are really into animals, what about The Unicorns? Nope, taken. Try something more obscure, Wolf Parade. Taken. Okay, let’s take a different direction on your name, The Pursuit of Happiness. Isn’t that a Will Smith move? Doesn’t matter, someone already has it. Somebody even took the name The Lowest of the Low, so don’t try going the opposite route.

These are all fantastic groups, but the names are so bizarre, it has become an epidemic in the indie community. What is your favourite band? The New Pornographers? Personally, I’m more of a The Hidden Cameras fan. That must be a typical conversation between Canadian indie fans. If you are not a fan of the genre though, both names immediately raise questions. Maybe that is why the Canadian indie community is so tightly knit.