Character Analysis
The Paranoids are a rock band in San Narciso that Pynchon uses to mock 1960s hippie culture in general, and "Beatle-mania" in particular. When Oedipa first meets the lead singer, Miles, he tells her that their manager wants him to sing in a British accent because it will help them sell records. Later Serge, the counter-tenor, almost crashes a car because he is unable to see through his hair.
The band appears a bunch of times in the story because Miles is the manager at the Echo Courts Hotel. They serenade Oedipa and Metzger as they get it on, and later go with them on their day trip to Fangoso Lagoons. The last time Oedipa goes to Echo Courts, she learns that Metzger has run off with Serge's girlfriend. Serge tells her that he has learned something from Metzger, and that he has been hanging around playgrounds trying to pick up eight-year-olds. Ick.
The band's name is an obvious allusion to "paranoia," which seems to run rampant in the novel (and throughout Pynchon's other work). They provide something of a pop culture soundtrack to Oedipa's quest for the Tristero, and allow Pynchon to spin out a few pretty hilarious lyrics.