A-Monkey kong

"A" is a horrible name for a band. Let's just get that out into the open right away. They formed in 1993, so they couldn't have predicted how ridiculously hard it would be to scour the internet for any information on a band with a single letter for a name. Even if Al Gore hadn't invented the internet, giving your band a single letter for a name is not a good idea. In my experience, even people who aren't in a band and have no prospects of ever being in a band still spend a reasonable amount of time thinking of cool band names. I knew a guy in high school who was planning a punk band (punk because they didn't know how to play their instruments, not because that had any sort of problem with "the man") called Bloody Knows. The band never got off the ground, but that didn't stop the guy from doodling fake Bloody Knows album covers on his notebook.

Giving your band a single letter for a name shows not only a lack of originality, but a complete disrespect for all the people in the world who have dozens of band names on hand just in case they're abducted by aliens and given supreme guitar skills (my favorite rock dream is that I'm in the matrix and guitar skills get shoved into my head in a matter of seconds).

Leaving the issue of the name aside, A isn't that bad of a band. I bought this album based on the strength of the title track's music video, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the video for "Californication" by Red Hot Chili Peppers (which was released the same year, oddly enough. I don't know which came first). They have a sort of pop punk vibe, which is exactly what I was listening to when this album came out. As with many pop punk bands, A's songs eventually all blur together because they all sound so similar. I like the sound of Jason Perry's voice, but the songwriting isn't that strong. All in all it's not a bad album to listen to as you watch the Chicago Bears trounce the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs, which is exactly what I'm doing right now.