15 Greatest Fictional Bands Of All Time
The characters may be fictional, but that sweet music is oh so real.
One of the most important aspects of filmmaking is creating believable characters that an audience can connect with. Strong characters grab people and force them to invest a little bit of themselves into the movie.
So when you decide to make a movie about a band -- or at least angle to have that band play an integral role in it -- then you'd better make sure they come off as a believable group.
And if the real music that fictional band composes is complete garbage, then you might as well hand everyone who pays to see the movie a Hootie & The Blowfish CD and send them on home, because at least then their vanilla listening experience would come with a coaster.
Luckily for movie buffs and music aficionados alike, there have been plenty of pretend bands that have churned out some excellent, bona fide songs that were captured on film.
As a note, we're going to focus solely on bands that were created explicitly for a movie or TV series. not those who started as actual bands prior to landing a televised gig. (Sorry Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords fans.) Though some of these bands went on to achieve wider acclaim outside of their fictional universes, as well.
15. Mouse Rat (from Parks & Recreation)
They've been known to Pawnee, Indiana locals by many names -- Scarecrow Boat, Punch Face Champion, Radwagon, Puppy Pendulum, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, Everything Rhymes With Orange -- but in the hearts of Parks & Recreation's loyal fans, it doesn't matter what they call themselves, so long as the band formerly (and possibly currently) known as Mouse Rat keeps finding a way to rock.
Self-described as a cross between Matchbox Twenty and The Fray, it's easy to dismiss Andy Dwyer and his ragtag group of jock-rockers as a joke. After all, that's certainly what the creators of Parks & Rec intended when they came up with songs like "Sex Hair" and "Menace Ball".
But underneath the silly titles and Eddie Vedder-aping vocal delivery, there's some real heart and a surprising knack for melody.
Best Song: "5,000 Candles in the Wind"
While most Mouse Rat songs fall squarely into the jangly 90s pop rock milieu, this one aims for power ballad territory. And nails it.