QUIZ: Do you know how these alternative bands got their names?
Do you ever get a pang of excitement when you see the name of your favorite band pop up? Be it on Spotify, Instagram or the Rock Band catalog, we’re positively conditioned to jump at a familiar name.
It’s crazy to think that these monikers we’ve come to know were once just loose ideas. We can’t imagine the artists behind them ever expected that they’d come to represent the essence of their mainstream success. Just look at Jimmy Eat World, who have some regrets about their rushed decision.
Read more: These 10 alternative covers put a modern spin on ’90s favorites
Think you’ve got your alternative history down pat? Take the quiz below to see if you can match the band names to their origins.
More on All Time Low
All Time Low have their foundations in the mid-2000s pop-punk era. The Baltimore-based outfit exploded onto the mainstream scene in 2007 with their sophomore album, So Wrong, It’s Right.
Drawing on influences from early pop-punk icons such as blink-182, the band developed a catchy, upbeat sound for themselves. Their melodic, pop-leaning flair put them right at home with the time’s scene favorites such as Mayday Parade and Boys Like Girls.
Read more: 9 uncredited guest vocals you might have missed in your favorite songs
Following the decline of the genre’s popularity, All Time Low experimented with a more pop-centered sound on their 2017 album, Last Young Renegade. Vocalist Alex Gaskarth furthered this transcendence through Simple Creatures, a synth-laden, pop-rock side project he took on in 2019 with blink-182’s Mark Hoppus.
All Time Low shifted back toward their roots with the release of Wake Up, Sunshine earlier this year. Though notably pop punk, the album has gained mainstream radio traction. “Monsters,” which features blackbear, has been particularly successful, reaching the No. 1 position on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.
Despite the return to All Time Low’s roots, we can expect further pop experimentation from Gaskarth in the future. Although Simple Creatures have been out of the studio during the COVID-19 pandemic, the vocalist notes that there is more music to come.
