"BTW, I aced English too."
Apparently not if you actually believe that "are" is not applicable to bands.
That's really all there is to it. It IS down to preference regardless of what you wanna post.
Until everyone becomes a one-man band, ARE will apply.
Example: Soccer team entitled "Arsenal". Arsenal is a really good team or group of players?
Both are applicable. Singular and plural.
-AC
OK, here's my two cents on this:
If the band's name is singular (Weezer, Modest Mouse) you can use 'is'. Modest Mouse is awesome. Modest Mouse are awesome. Say those out loud. Which makes more sense?
The FBI is investigating a crime. The FBI are investigation a crime. Again, say it outloud.
But if the band's name is plural (The Beatles, Rolling Stones), then you use are. The Beatles is awesome. The Beatles are awesome.
It's acceptable to use both, that's because if you say 'Tool are excellent', it's not a collective noun in that case, what it is is a contracted sentence.
When somebody says Tool are awesome, they don't mean the singular entity which consists of members 'are' awesome, because that would be 'is'. They mean something like 'the guys in Tool' are awesome. If you wish to find a grammatical error, it's there.
"If the band's name is singular (Weezer, Modest Mouse) you can use 'is'. Modest Mouse is awesome. Modest Mouse are awesome. Say those out loud. Which makes more sense?
Both are applicable in the case of bands without "The" at the beginning, or plurals. Singular names do not equate to singular entity.
-AC
when i was doing English language for A-level (many moons go) I was told that it was proper to use the singular for a group that is seen as a single entity, except where it was desirable to lay emphasis on the fact that such a group was itself made up of separate entities... and I was told that by a guy who helps edit the OED....