As music journalists, we’ve had some pretty bizarre band promo pics cross our desks. But there was something especially odd about the image accompanying a presser from formerly sharp-suited retro-rockers the Basics. That’s their suits you can see being Photoshoppically cast aside in the picture as they crouch vulnerably on what appears to be a door.

“I don’t wanna go down with this ship,” carol Wally de Backer, Kris Schroeder and Tim Heath in their new single, ‘With This Ship’. While the song is about relationships, it equally signals that the Basics have decided to abandon the retro-rock ship that, let’s face it, Little Red are sailing pretty smartly these days. I gather that’s what this pic is meant to convey.

However, it’s not the silliest promo pic we’ve seen in recent months – that gong must go to Evermore. The New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based Hume brothers used to look quite gentle and cuddly as they foraged through forests and cavorted on beaches in their video clips, occasionally “screaming out for help! HELP!”

However, they too have embarked on a bold new direction ahead of the 20 March release of their portentously titled third album, Truth Of The World: Welcome To The Show. On the left, Dann Hume has traded his winsome wire-framed specs for an ensemble that makes him look like a schoolboy pimp. He even has a pad and pen to write notes during class.

On the right, Peter has shaved his head, which clearly ended in misadventure as he is gazing in shock at his sprained wrist. And in the centre, Jon appears shell-shocked by his own decision to peroxide his hair. Inexplicably, he clutches a red rose.

What does this image say about the band? We’re confused, although we feel that the rose is the key and if we can only work out what that means, we’ll discover the truth of the world.

The MySpace reaction to the pic was mixed – while some fans raved about the new look, others were more skeptical. Our hearts went out to Lucy, the second commenter, who wrote: “I’m embarrassed for both Evermore and myself.”

Still, at least Evermore are not gratuitously naked. That’s the aspect of the Basics’ promo pic that had us in fits of hysterical laughter. But the Basics are certainly not the first band to nude up, seemingly for no good reason other than to give music journos a chuckle.

But really, are silly band pics a good promotional strategy? It depends on whether the shoot has anything to do with the music, and whether it’s done with the intention of searing the eyeballs of innocent journalists and their readers. We can see that ambiguously sexual images can be memorable, as is the deliberate grotesqueness of seeing scrawny, pasty, hairy male bodies that aren’t conventional beefcake material. But it’s much more pitiful when it’s done for mere ’stunt value’, because it looks good in a presser.

In the interests of Quality Journalism, we’ve tracked down some images that the scantily clad bands and their photographers might describe as ‘quirky’, ‘edgy’ or ‘brave’, but that we prefer to call ‘perplexing’, ‘creepy’ or ‘hilarious’. It’s also food for thought that in an industry notorious for objectifying the bodies of female musicians, these pics are all of men.

Some are from the Robbie Williams school of pubic hair exposure – back in 2004 gossip had it that Robbie’s record label told him to quit flashing his pubes in video clips. This didn’t stop him flashing them in the artwork of his greatest hits album.

Others are from the “my shirt is chafin’ me… now my pants are chafin’ me” school of semi-undress. We particularly like My Disco’s “Uh-oh, I’m having a sleep-in and a courier just knocked on my door with a delivery of giant baubles” outfits. Still others are from that honourable tradition of penile concealment. A record, some strategic soap bubbles or even the leg of your pneumatic stripper wife can make excellent impromptu codpieces.

Click on the thumbnails to see all the pictures.

Any we’ve missed? What are some of the best – and worst – band promo pics you’ve seen?