Ideas For Doomed Bands

1) the band is really vocal about being influenced by bands from the seminal era of punk, but they're the wrong bands -- the now forgotten retrograde also-rans who were just along for the ride. Like they'll be in an interview talking about, "yeah, we're really into the classic CBGBs sound, you know, like the Tuff Darts, or the Shirts." And when the interviewer asks, "but what about the Talking Heads, or Television?" they'll just look on in stupefied incredulity. Or they'll talk about how much they're getting into' 77 British punk, like 999, or the Motors. Etc.

2) Alternatively, the band could be influenced by infamous rock plagiarists. For instance, they could describe in intimate detail the ways their sound was shaped by A C. Temple, the Inca Babies, or Buffalo Tom. Then, when the interviewer asked them, "Yeah, but what about Sonic Youth, the Birthday Party, and Dinosaur Jr." -- i.e., the respective groups the other three ripped off in the first place -- they'd ask who they were. When the interviewer explained, they'd get real excited. "Whoa, those guys sound really good. We're gonna have to check them out!"