Great band names are significantly less common than bad ones. Many are pretentious. Still more are just plain stupid. Or goofy. Or snide. For example, an Austin band in the '90s conjured up a wonderful moment in TV history where racists clashed with a pretentious talk show host. That band, Geraldo's Broken Nose, is history now as well. The best band names are short, to the point, memorable, and conjure up in some intangible way the music they advertise, the times they live in, and possibly even the city the band comes from. For now, Katy's youthful punks, the Diseased Pigeons, take the cake. Only a punk band could have such a lurid, unforgettable name. And with the West Nile virus ravaging our avian population, no name could be more geographically appropriate. Check their bizarre Web site (www.
diseasedpigeons.cjb.net) for some of their useful statements of intent, such as this one, from "The Cat Song:" "I want to be a cat / I'll eat myself a rat / You won't see me in the fog / I'll be taunting your dog." Well, try to find it, if you can, amid all the levitating clip-art monkeys, lions, and gingerbread men and the weather forecasts for Djibouti and Colombo. These kids aren't there yet, but they look like they might be going places.