What’s in a band name? Often it’s everything. Slayer. You know what you’re getting with that name. Rock that will melt your face off. Same with Depeche Mode. It’s electronic and European and very ‘80s. Even in the ‘80s we thought the name was very ‘80s. For a more recent example, see the GBV-inspired sound and moniker of Good Flying Birds. Sometimes it goes the other way. Dan Bejar called his band Destroyer even though (or because) it sounds nothing like a band that would call itself Destroyer. My premise isn’t perfect, but 60 percent of the time it works every time.
Which brings me to Mod Lang. A four-piece power pop band from Detroit who released their debut LP Borrowed Time today. You know this – the “power pop band” part, anyway – because the band is named Mod Lang, after the first track on side two of Big Star’s Radio City.
