Band Names/Band Looks

How strange is it that when one band makes it big, a number of other bands wind up with similar names? Just to back up my thesis on this phenomenon, consider the following bands, all of whom are relatively big at the moment:

Blink 182
Sum 41
Matchbox 20
Maroon 5

I know there are others that I'm missing, but you get the point. The trend the last few years is to pick a word, apropo of nothing, and affix a number at the end of it. I'm fairly certain that Matchbox 20 were the originators of this naming technique, so they get a pass as far as I'm concerned. But what's with the rest of them? Did they name themselves, or did their record company do it for them? "Hey guys. Listen, we're going to affix you with a name that means nothing and has a number at the end of it. Believe me, it'll be cool!" Then there's this: Recently I came across the name of a band called Louis XIV. I don't think I'm jumping to conclusions when I say that it is fairly obvious that this band got their cue from Franz Ferdinand, another band that recently broke. "Hey guys, here's the new trend. We have to name ourselves after a European monarch who somehow precipitated a revolution or a war that was exceptionally destructive!" Don't be too surprised if you see a band named Alexander Kerensky. This isn't a knock on anyone's music per se (although I don't think much of any of them), but I do think it more than a coinicidence, this silly naming going on, no?

Another thing I've noticed is the return of the greasy, slightly long-haired look, circa 1975. Wearing tweed jackets, ripped jeans, Chuckie-Ts, and playing unpopular guitar models that Fender used to put out when they were at the nadir of their production quality, we have bands like The Strokes (who were the ones that brought back the look), Kings of Leon, The White Stripes, and the aforementioned Maroon 5. Now again, this isn't a dig on any of the bands I've mentioned musically. (I'm slightly partial to The White Stripes...but not much.) But I do find these "fashion" trends in music amusing. I do also find it amusing that these bands choose to play some of the weakest, technologically anachronistic equipment available, if only for the "look". Curious, no?