Creative people don’t mind ruffling a few feathers here and there. We saw it when Madonna burned crosses in one of her music videos, back when Elvis couldn’t keep his hands off his pelvis, and with the band AJJ.

AJJ isn’t a bad band – in fact, we wouldn’t be posting this if they were! They just made an interesting naming decision when they decided to make the last J in their band name stand for Jihad. The full acronym used to stand for Andrew Jackson Jihad, and no, we don’t have the full explanation as to why. If you ever get the chance to meet them, now you know what to ask. As of 2016, the band officially changed its name to AJJ and dropped the letters’ previous meaning.

Making the Band

AJJ, which is how we’ll refer to them for simplicity’s sake, is made up of Sean Bonette, Ben Gallaty, Preston Bryant, and Mark Glick. There have been as many as seven previous members, but as far as we know, the above lineup is correct. Personnel changes aside, the band put out their debut album in 2005, titled Candy Cigarettes and Cap Guns. That album got the attention of a small record label (Plan-It-X Records), and they put out their next full-length album in 2007.

The Bible 2

AJJ is great at naming albums. We don’t necessarily understand all of the names, but we give them top marks for creativity. Their discography includes names like The Knife Man, People Who Can Eat Are the Luckiest People in the World, and Christmas Island – just to name a few. With names like that, we have no idea what to expect from their next album. It could be anything from an EP to a full studio album with a strange name. No matter what it is, we’ll be waiting for the release with bated breath.