Given that The Simpsons has been going for some 26 seasons – meaning that it’s pushing towards 600 episodes – it’s not surprising that there’s long been a nexus between the animated universe and the music realm.

Obviously there’s been dozens and dozens and bands and artists who have appeared as guests on the show, and even a huge array of fictional bands and musicians that have appeared over the years – including, but not limited to, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Sadgasm, The Party Posse, The B Sharps, Covercraft, Sungazer, Les Rock Stars, Ear Poison, Grave Matthews Band, Alcatraaz, MC Champagne Millionaire, Pious Riot, Kovenant and The Larry Davis Experience – but there’s also been a lot of crossover in recent years into real life as budding musicians influenced by the long-running show start bands of their own. The main one that jumps to mind is Illinois rock band Fall Out Boy, but even though their name is definitely a reference to Radioactive Man’s sidekick they don’t strictly count because the name just one on a list that was given to friends to choose (who does that, by the way?) so was chosen by others.

Even a cursory glance at Aussie gig guides in recent times lets you spy a string of names such as Release The Hounds, Hockey Dad and Hooray For Everything (Simmos references one and all). Furthermore, in a recent episode of Portlandia, The Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening made bike courier Skype (aka Fred Arminson) eat a bootleg T-shirt of a fictional ska band called Bart Ska-mpson, but that’s blurring the line between fiction and reality just a little too much for contemplation.

So the obvious question becomes: can we assemble a festival made from bands who’ve taken their names from The Simpsons? Did Moses start forest fires? You bet your bottom dollar, we can even split ‘em into loose stages so you can peruse by genre…

PUNK STAGE

EVERGREEN TERRACE

Band: melodic hardcore band from Florida who started in 1999 and are still going strong.

Reference: our favourite yellow family live at 742 Evergreen Terrace (also home to the Flanders family and previously at least two erstwhile Presidents).

HOT ROD CIRCUIT

Band: Alabaman emo band who formed in 1997 and recently reformed for their third stint together.

Reference: during Smithers’ dream in the episode Who Shot Mr Burns No 2, his dream paramour Mr Burns says, “The year is 1965, and you and I are undercover detectives on the hot rod circuit!”

JIMBO JONES

Band: Norwegian space-punk band (2003-2008) who get bonus points for releasing music on Troy McClure Records.

Reference: Purple-capped bully, a “good-looking rebel” who may or may not be a rich kid slumming it.

123 FAKE ST

Band: Seattle pop-punk outfit who released a tribute to Steve Irwin in 2006 titled See Ya Later.

Reference: The address that Marge gives police after accidentally cutting off Homer’s thumb and wiggum wants to charge her for attempted murder.

MR BURNS

Band: Hardcore band from Flensburg (a small independent town in northern Germany).

Reference: The evil owner of the nuclear power plant where Homer ‘works’, a man of extreme wealth and zero compassion.

THE SPEEDHOLES

Band: Punk quartet who played regularly around Denver at the start of the millennium.

Reference: Holes in a car that Homer believes “makes the car go faster”, can be installed via either bullets or pick-axe (depending on your mood).

FLOORPIE

Band: Punk band from Wellington, NZ who played a lot in the late-‘90s (and whose members went on to form Sheriff Lobo).

Reference: If you see a nice piece of pie on the floor be careful as it could be a trap (as Homer found out in Boy-Scoutz N The Hood).

REX BANNER

Band: Sydney melodic hardcore band from mid-last decade, played at least once with The Amity Affliction.

Reference: Homer’s prohibition-enforcing nemesis in Homer vs The Eighteenth Amendment.

SKA/ROCKABILLY STAGE

I VOTED FOR KODOS

Band: Wisconsin ska outfit (1999-2007) who met at a Reel Big Fish concert and used to start shows with instructions on how to skank. Reformed last year, starting a Kickstarter campaign to fund an EP.

Reference: In Treehouse Of Horror VII when evil alien Kang enslaves the human race and destroys the planet Homer absolves himself of blame by saying, “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos”.

WIGGUM

Band: Orange County ska trio who once released an album titled Super Extreme Elimination Compilation featuring the immortal tune Beatbox Chicken Pox.

Reference: One of Springfield’s finest families, featuring loving couple Clancy and Sarah and their oft-misunderstood son Ralph (whose breath may or may not smell like cat food).

MR SPARKLE

Band: Eight-piece ska band from Clifton, NJ who at one point boasted a five-piece horn section.

Reference: A Japanese dishwashing detergent mascot who looks startlingly like Homer (the detergent itself being a popular method of suicide in Japan).

STUPID FLANDERS

Band: Another eight-piece ska band from Orange County, these guys are still going strong.

Reference: One of Homer’s genuine catch-cries, oft uttered when his neighbour-ino does something stupid like ask for his stuff back (not to be confused with “stupid sexy Flanders”).

MAD MARGE & THE STONECUTTERS

Band: Northern San Bernardino County psychobilly band (with a lass called Alicia Ridenour as the titular Mad Marge) who adapted the Stonecutters Theme into their track Troublemaker.

Reference: A fusion of Marge Simpson (nee Bouvier) in a bad mood and the secret society (with a very musical bent) who love beer and table tennis – not to be confused with The Ancient Mystic Society Of No Homers.

ROCK STAGE

JEBEDIAH

Band: Fine WA band who will represent Australia with aplomb as self-professed pop culture junkies.

Reference: Springield’s one and only founding father Jebediah Springfield whose statue adorns the town square (later controversially outed as bloodthirsty pirate Hans Sprungfeld).

MALIBU STACY

Band: Belgian power-pop band who eventually moved to New York in the late-2000s (not to be confused with current pop-punk band from Sunshine Coast).

Reference: plastic doll manufactured by the Maliby Stacy Division of PetroChem Petrochemical Corporation, much-loved by Lisa and collected voraciously by Waylon Smithers.

JEBUS

Band: A three-piece rock band from northern Virginia who purportedly mixed hip hop, funk and country into a genre called “funktry”. 

Reference: In the episode Missionary: Impossible Homer admits, “I can’t be a missionary, I don’t even believe in Jebus!” (an assertion perhaps debunked later when he appeals to the deity during an emergency).

GUY INCOGNITO

Band: Chicagoan rockers who pride themselves on “delighting audiences with their awkward jubilee and self-aware swagger”.

Reference: A dapper English-sounding gentleman with a more than passing resemblance to Homer who feels the wrath of Moe in the episode Fear Of Flying.

MOANING LISA

Band: Kansas City-bred disciples of “the school of rock” who split last decade but whom still dust off the cobwebs at least once a year.

Reference: The title of the sixth ever episode proper, in which we’re first introduced to Lisa’s jazz mentor Bleeding Gums Murphy.

FRANK GRIMES

Band: Three-piece rock band from Dayton, Ohio, which is home of The Breeders, Guided By Voices and The Wright Brothers (who we assume are some folk or bluegrass outfit).

Reference: Homer’s self-described nemesis at the nuclear plant (aka ‘Grimey’), the chartered physicist was a hard worker and before his sad passing sired a son (Frank Grimes Jr).

SIDESHOW BOB

Band: Five-pieve band from Cedar Falls, Iowa who may or may not be an ‘80s and ‘90s cover band.

Reference: The stage name of Dr. Robert “Bob” Underdunk Terwilliger, Jr., the sidekick of Krusty the Clown who sports a pathological hatred of all things Bart-related.

GOLDFISH DON’T BOUNCE

Band: Another “hard-rockin’ cover band”, this time from across the pond in Bristol, UK (not to be confused with short-lived band from rural Victoria in late-‘00s).

Reference: One of Bart’s more memorable chalkboard gags (from season 4 episode Duffless).

SPIDER PIG

Band: Yet another cover band from Bouremouth, UK who play “only the very best rock tunes” in a manner “like they mean it”.

Reference: The alias of Plopper the pig, as sung by Homer in The Simpsons Movie (formerly on the menu at Krusty Burger, aka Harry Plopper).

METAL/DOOM STAGE

THE CHRIST PUNCHERS

Band: Detroit doom merchants, slaves to all things heavy and conceived at “the dawn of the collapse of Western Society” (not to be confused with Minneapolis-based pop-punk band of same name).

Reference: When Homer and his buddies go to start a motorcycle gang Moe really, really wants to call it The Christ Punchers (sadly Homer’s already embroidered their jackets with Hell’s Satans).

MR PLOW

Band: A four-piece stoner rock band from Houston, TX in the ‘90s (not to be confused with Canadian anarcho-acoustic-folk-metal solo act of same name).

Reference: Homer's short-lived, snowplow-drivin', jacket-wearin' alter ego, of the business and episode of the same name.

CHIEF WIGGUM

Band: Current four-piece metal band from Deland, FL who list their band activities on F-book as “jammin’ n’ all other sorts of ill shit”.

Reference:  Springfield’s veritable police chief Clancy Wiggum, also noted asthmatic and coach of The Mighty Pigs hockey team.

YOU DON’T WIN FRIENDS WITH SALAD

Band: Another Aussie entrant, this six-piece metal band from Queensland has to be in the winning for the ‘metal band with the least metal name’ award.

Reference: Next time you’re having a BBQ and someone suggests a vegetarian option just form a conga line and start chanting this catchy ditty from Lisa The Vegetarian.

SPACE COYOTE

Band: Spanish stoner rock/doom band (who also have a track titled Space Coyote just to ram the point home).

Reference: From what some (okay, me) consider the greatest Simmos episode ever, El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer), Homer’s spirit guide is a chilled coyote (aka Wolfy) – who has a voice suspiciously like Johnny Cash – and at one stage Homer exclaims, “In your face, space coyote!”.

ROOTS STAGE

PRAY FOR MOJO

Band: Four-piece country/bluegrass band from Muncie, IN (not to be confused with instrumental funk band from Boston).

Reference: Homer’s helper monkey (ie slave) Mojo picked up some bad lifestyle habits from his owner, and when asked what was wrong after he was returned to his trainers he typed the phrase ‘pray for Mojo’ on a keyboard.

PIN MONKEY

Band: Nashville-bred country music group who released a Dolly Parton cover Falling Out Of Love With Me on which Ms Parton herself contributed backing vocals.

Reference: The episode And Maggie Makes Three (season 6) is a flashback about the circumstances of Maggie’s birth, which complicated family life with Homer having quit the power plant to fulfill his lifelong dream of working at the bowling alley as “a pin monkey”.

REVEREND LOVEJOY

Band: Norwegian folk band apparently influenced by Nick Drake who released an album in 2000 entitled Polo Is Not The Issue Darling, Champagne Is!.

Reference: The local Springfield Reverend – whose name is Timothy Lovejoy Jr – who can sometimes be found on the radio co-hosting Gabbin’ About God with Krusty’s father.

TEAM STRIKE FORCE

Band: A ‘worship band’ from controversial Mars Hill Church in Seattle (not to be confused with Vancouver pop-punk band).

Reference: When the Sprngfield kids need to infiltrate Shelbyville during Lemon Of Troy, Bart names the pairing of Todd Flanders and Data ‘Team Strike Force’  (not to be confused with Nelson and Martin who are ‘Team Discovery Channel’).

HELL’S SATANS

Band: Hard-rockin’ blues outfit from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, songs include Toast In Hell and Satan Is Sad.

Reference: Outlaw motorcycle from Bakersfield who took exception to Homer and his chums misappropriating their band name, kidnapped Marge and forced her to do their laundry.

THE VELOCITATORS

Band: Three-piece band from New Brunswick, NJ who describe their style as “anti-folk acoustic absurdity” and claim to sing about “cows, math and someone you don’t know called Steve”.

Reference: In Homer The Smithers we discover that a velocitator is the lever used to increase the speed of a car (synonym: decelratrix).

DANCE/ELECTRO STAGE

ITCH-E & SCRATCH-E

Band: Veteran Aussie electro group featuring Paul Mac (who in 2010 earned themselves bonus points for releasing an album titled Hooray For Everything!!).

Reference: A play on the fictional titular characters from The Itchy & Scratchy Show, the much-loved cartoon followed by hordes of Springfield youngsters.

FLANDERS

Band: Italian dance/electronic/house quartet (not to be confused with the Perth guitar band from the late-‘90s).

Reference: could allude to any member of the Simpson family’s god-fearing neighbours – Ned, Maude (RIP), Rod and Todd – but most likely referring to the patriarch Ned, who has the most screen time.

LASZLO PANAFLEX

Band: In 2002 there was a hit in the progressive house world called Dance To The Music (If You Want To Prove It) which was credited to a mysterious artist Laszlo Panaflex.

Reference: Fictional cinematographer who has the star next to Troy McClure on the Springfield Walk Of Fame, the spot where Troy hope Selma’s star will one day reside (“Watch out… Laszlo Panaflex!”).

FAT TONY

Band: Houston rapper Fat Tony has collaborated with some big names (including Das Racist and A$AP Rocky) and his mantra is “it’s good to be good”.

Reference: The nickname of Springfield mob boss Marion Anthony D’Amico, whose rackets include cigarette smuggling, false IDs and who can often be found in the Legitimate Businessman’s Social Club.

DISCO STU

Band: A dance-disco quartet from Ostra in central Italy (not to be confused with US hardcore band who only cover songs from The Simpsons).

Reference: Walking anachronism who is perpetually stuck in the ‘70s, who owns Stu’s Disco and is rarely seen without his rhinestone-encrusted leisure suit.

MY BRILLIANT BEAST

Band: Canadian electronic act who make blissful ethereal music with strong beats (not to be confused with Minneapolis shoegaze band of same name).

Reference: In The Call Of The Simpsons German scientists study Homer and tell the ensuing press conference; “This much I believe we can agree upon: this specimen is either a below-average human being or… a brilliant beast”. Marge – who sees this on TV from in bed with her hubby – offers, “Goodnight… my brilliant beast”.

TIMMY O’TOOLE

Band: Rapcore outfit from Buenos Aires, Argentina (not to be confused with Dublin, Irland rock band of same name).

Reference: Fictional character is fictional Simpsons universe (so that means he’s real), made by up Bart for a prank in which he convinced townspeople (and Sting) that Timmy was trapped down the well.

So there you have it, a bona fide (kinda) festival for all the family. It’s unlikely that we’ve even scratched the surface of band names taken from The Simmos, so if you know of any more please submit below to win a warm fuzzy glow!