Always two there are
I keep forgetting to do this list, but this is one of those weird phenomena that I have noticed. Say there is a band you like. No, not them, that other one. Similar names are the death of me, especially when I love one band and hate the other. I spent years of my life not liking Chavez, because I saw a video by Gomez (which I hated), and the names were permanently mixed up in my mind.
SOOOOO, in no particular order (except alphabetical), and varying levels of similarity…
- The Arcade Fire / The Fiery Furnaces
- Black Dice / Black Lips / The Black Keys
- Cake / Cake-Like
- Chavez / Gomez
- Codeine / Morphine
- Deerhoof / Deerhunter
- Del Fuegos / Del Lords
- fIREHOSE / Firehouse
- Fucked Up / Holy Fuck (and they’re both from fuckin’ Toronto, fuck!)
- Garth Brooks / Brooks & Dunn
- Jawbox / Jawbreaker
- The Mars Volta / Volta Do Mar
- Mew / Muse
- Modest Mouse / Mouse on Mars
- Múm (from Iceland) / Mum (NOT from Iceland)
- OMD / OMC
- Panda Bear (from Animal Collective) / Grizzly Bear (not from Animal Collective)
- Polara / Polaris
- Stroke 9 / The Strokes
- Super Furry Animals / Animal Collective
- Supergrass / Superdrag
- Television / Telephone
- The Verve / The Verve Pipe
- The Vines / The Shins
- Whitesnake / White Lion / Great White
- Wolf Eyes / Wolf Parade / Wolfmother / Wolf Balls (ok I made that last one up, but it’s only a matter of time)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Hot Hot Heat / !!!
- Honorable mention: the seven hundred or so bands during the 80s that had all one word names that started with a C.
- BONUS ROUND: XTC album “Black Sea” / X album “Under the Big Black Sun”
It seems like there were more, but my memory is terrible—which is why I am always mixing these groups up in my head to begin with.