Download the new mixtape here: http://popetcetera.com/

San Francisco indie band the Morning Benders are now Pop Etc, the group announced over the weekend.

The trio changed its name over the word "bender," which the band discovered doubles as a derisive slang term for "homosexual" in the UK and parts of Europe during its 2010 tour.

"We found out about it when we went to the UK for the first time," frontman Chris Chu told Billboard.com. "The meaning that I knew was just going out all night and partying -- we did it kind of tongue-in-cheek, we thought it was funny at the time."

But overseas, he said the name became a distraction, keeping the group from being taken seriously on radio and television outlets as well as creating confusion over the group's message among fans.

"We simply cannot go on using a name that is demeaning to the gay community. The reason we are making music is to reach and unite as many different kinds of people as possible, and the idea that our name may be hateful towards anyone makes us sick," Chu wrote in a letter on the band's website. So Pop Etc was born.

"We wanted a name that was short and simple. Secondly, we wanted a name that was descriptive of the sound," Chu said. "It's our band name, but it's also the kind of music we play, pop, etcetera."

The band's new-moniker roll-out includes a fresh website, new social networking hubs and an accompanying free mixtape, which contains material which may make its way onto the group's third album -- its follow-up to 2010's critically acclaimed "Big Echo."

"We're pretty close to being done with it," Chu said, promising an official announcement shortly. "We went into the studio with around 20 songs. The mixtape is the first incarnation of those songs."

that is a very, very terrible band name.

Yeah, that really is a terrible name.

Stupid move.

yes, it's a terrible name.

but it took them 2 albums to figure this out? i think there comes a point in any band's career when they just have to deal with mistakes they've made because, apparently, someone likes (or at least doesn't mind) it enough that they still have fans. and they seem past the point.

Seriously. There are FAR worse, more offensive band names and it's not like they conceived the name to hurt gay people's feelings.

Seems overly sensitive and easily dismissed criticism.

"It's our band name, but it's also the kind of music we play, pop, etcetera."

this is cracking me up

i get it now! you play pop music. "pop" is in your name! you play other things too hence the "etc."!!!!!! DUDE IS A GENIUS

you guys should hear it.

Coincidentally, "pop etc." is slang for the combination of facials and watersports in Serbian porn.

just googled Serbian women

pic is better than the mixtape guys

It's still better than their first choice - Hop on Pop Etc.

i thought that email that i got from their list was a hoax at first. what an idiotic move and terrible new name.

they should change it back like Netflix did!

guess no one saw the March random thread

I saw your post there, stu, and I also saw that you initially made this same thread initially before deleting it and moving your post to the random thread.

Anyhow, yeah, dumb name. Good way for an otherwise forgettable band to draw attention to itself, though, I guess.

ah, i very rarely read the random threads. don't see the point really.

what ya think of the new stuff stu?

oh no I made a typo now I'm going to go kill myself

it's all over

good time to start a new band called The Morning Benders i guess.

Or at least buy their domain name once they let it lapse and then jack up the price when they change their minds and try to buy it back

This is a good thread.

Speaking of good, I feel like there was a Morning Benders song that I kind of liked a few years ago.

Haven't heard it.

That is a terrible, terrible name.