Weirdest Bands/Artists in Music

[RPS]

There are lots of weird musical acts out there. Who do you think the weirdest are?

Captured by Robots

Captured by Robots is a band fronted by some dude who has been "captured" by robots (hence the name) and is now being forced to play in their rock and roll band. Its interesting to say the least. Not really weird, as much as it is kind of childish. But whatever.

Matmos

Matmos is two guys who create some eletronica music. Not weird, right? Well, among the sounds they sample in their songs are amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of bibles turning, liposuction surgery, rat cages, tanks of helium, violas, human skulls, field recordings of conversations in hot tubs, frequency response tests for defective hearing aids, a steel guitar recorded in a sewer, electrical interference generated by laser eye surgery, latex fetish clothing, rhinestones on a dinner plate, Polish trains, aspirin tablets hitting a drum kit from across the room, dogs barking, people reading aloud, life support systems and inflatable blankets, records chosen by the roll of dice, an acupuncture point detector conducting electrical current through human skin, rock salt crunching underfoot, solid gold coins spinning on bars of solid silver, the sound of a frozen stream thawing in the sun, a five gallon bucket of oatmeal and the vagina, uterus, and reproductive tract of a cow, among other things. His last CD sampled the sound of semen hitting paper as well. He wrote a song dedicated to his deceased rat Felix and the song was performed on the rats cage. They had a whole CD that was kind of a concept album using samples of medical procedures. Its REALLY bizarre.

And of course there are the obvious: the White Stripes (brothers-sister, husband/wife?), Michael Jackson (pedophile?), the Locust (band who performs in insect costumes), etc.

So what are some of the weirder bands you've heard of.

[Tarheels.]

And of course there are the obvious: the White Stripes (brothers-sister, husband/wife?), Michael Jackson (pedophile?), the Locust (band who performs in insect costumes), etc.

So what are some of the weirder bands you've heard of.

[Guest Ringy Said Knock You Out]

When I saw the Libertines a few years back, this band called the Neverminds opened for them. They had no instruments, screamed and pour alcohol in the crowd. I really didn't know what that was about.

Edited April 12, 2007 by Ringy Said Knock You Out

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Matmos are lush! Happiness for all!

[Nerf]

The Aquabats!

[sirdavinator]

Ghoul is an extreme metal band from the fictional hamlet of Creepsylvania, with members claiming to be mutants and monsters, recording thrash metal onto wax cylinders provided by the town's Curio Shoppe owner, the mysterious Mr. Fang.

They're not all that weird, but rather humourous, and make some nice music. Sucks live though.

Edited April 12, 2007 by sirdavinator

[VerbalPuke]

Zolar-X

Here's a band that were considered one of the original glam rock bands from LA in the 70s, and a heavy influence on the Germs. They were a pretty straight forward rock act, but they had this schtick of dressing up like people from outer space. Their whole gimmick was based on outer space and singing about related subjects. They even created their own martian language which can be heard as the first track on their album "Timeless".

G.G. Allin

This one is pretty obvious. The subject matter that he sang about (murder, torture, defecation, rape, urination, vomit, and literally anything and everything) and his on stage antics make him pretty fucking weird. He'd perform naked more often than not, covered in bruises from prior fights with his audience, and at some point would shit on stage and either eat it or fling it at his audience. Footage of G.G. is always a treat.

I'll add more when I have more time to think about it.

[Skummy]

I can't not drop yet another reference to The Meatballs here. Allegedly hailing from Mexico, they gave up a career as lucha-libre stars to move to Jersey for it's bustling cabaret scene, only to find it wiped out by the rise of disco (this band formed in the late '90s, so this makes even less sense), so they set about trying to re-create it...but with synth, and primarily miming their way through recordings of their own songs, while wearing lucha masks and either tuxedos, swimming trunks, or occassionally sailor outfits.

DJ Scotch Egg is quite odd. DJs using Game Boys, primarily.

Kid Carpet is strange, too, but brilliant. Rubbish rap and electro over amazing mash-ups, Fisher Price plastic instruments, and occassionally cardboard props to illustrate his songs.

The Shaggs are pretty dreadful most of the time, but mildly entertaining. They were a 60s "girl group" comprised of three sisters, but clearly just had no idea what constituted a song. They were out-of-tune, out-of-time, and nothing came close to conforming to a conventional song structure of any kind. They've been championed a lot in alternative circles, but essentially they're just shit.

Musically I can think of some pretty odd, or at least experimental, bands (Carnival In Coal, Estradasphere, An Albatross, Mr Bungle), but I'm trying to think of more gimmicky and stylistically "weird" bands and can't come up with too many more right now.

[Guest Kou]

Tom Waits, skummy can back me up there.

[bob saget]

.

Edited March 3, 2021 by bob saget

[probablyoliver]

Kunt and the Gang

there are no words.

Edited April 13, 2007 by O! YES!

[GhostMachine]

[Nerf]

Kunt and the Gang

there are no words.

[Matt]

The crazy fucking frog. No explanation necessary.

[YI]

The Sounds Of Animal Fighting, musically they're fairly weird (Especially the first album, which was basically just randomly thrown together jams) but they have greatest gimmick to a band of all time.

[VerbalPuke]

Throbbing Gristle is a group that just came to me. Their music is influential to a lot of more modern industrial metal groups, but as far as I know, they didn't have a real heavy sound. I know that electronics and synthesizers were used heavily in their music, though I'm not absolutely familiar with it. I do know that the band had some wild props for their stage shows, such as used tampons and a pile of soiled diapers (it may have been the other way around). I've seen footage and the lead singer makes out with some strange looking guy in the audience, and both of these dudes reactions afterward are pretty fucking strange.

Feederz were awesome, and somewhat gimmicky. Their music speaks for itself, and politically they described themselves as surrealists. That's all fine and dandy, but Feederz were also out to shock and disturb people. For example, sometime in the late 70s, lead singer Frank Discussion caused a panic at a show when he fired an AK-47 at the crowd, fortunately he was firing blanks. A few years down the road Frank Discussion would play shows adorned in a suit with insects (crickets I believe) pasted to him. He also played a few shows with a dead cat tied around his neck, as a sort of primitive necklace.

Similar to G.G. Allin but without the defecation and violent shows are the Mentors. Three ugly mother fuckers that wore black hoods to conceal their faces and sang songs dealing with sex and booze for the most part. The lyrics are absolutely lewd, but cleverly written, and the music itself is pretty damn good. El Duce would (the singer and drummer) would often be piss drunk for shows, and wind up pissing on stage. As time wore on he began to incorporate live sex acts into his shows.

Surprised nobody made mention of Gwar, but I wont go into them because everybody knows about them.

There's also the Weirdos, but they're weird in name only. Well, some might consider them weird, but they weren't especially weird compared to other things out there.

Edited April 13, 2007 by VerbalPuke

[Skummy]

I echo the Tom Waits sentiment, musically he's rather mental.

Thinking of more "stylistically" weird bands...Modified Toy Orchestra are worth a mention. They do exactly what it says on the tin.

And, yeah, Wesley Willis is odd to say the least.

Edited April 13, 2007 by Godspeed You! Black Skummy

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

PREACH IT PREACHER MAN!

[Skummy]

I AM NOT A PREACHER MAN!

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

PRE-CHER MAN! PRE-CHER MAN!