The oddball hip-hop quartet has a very particular focus, says founding member Jeffry Cudlin. “Our songs are about giant robots, ancient astronauts and weed.”

But listen closely to the Rope Goat Clan’s new album, and you’ll catch references to bluegrass great Earl Scruggs, English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and magician David Copperfield. The release, called Form G-Zeus, is a nerdcore hip-hop saga.

It’s also a celebration, of sorts. The album marks Rope Goat Clan’s 20th anniversary as a half-serious, wholly ridiculous rap group.

The Rope Goat Clan formed in the ’90s at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, founded by Cudlin and two friends. Cudlin and one of his bandmates had played in another group together, once voted “Worst Band in Charlottesville” by a university newspaper. “We were a tasteful blend of the Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Mudhoney, out-of-tune guitars and self-loathing,” says Cudlin, 43.

When another friend proposed starting a rap group, none of them had tried to rap before. But they didn’t see that as a problem. The Rope Goat Clan “started playing for confused drunks,” Cudlin says.

“Real hip-hop fans sure didn’t know what to make of us,” he says. “Our lyrics were ridiculous, our music was loud and ugly.”

The members created ridiculous names and personas, partly to spoof gangsta-rap culture and partly to protect their identities. Cudlin, who performs as the Word — aka DJ MastaPoopa — is the only one willing to divulge his full name. “The other members of the band wish to remain anonymous as to not draw attention to their extracurricular activities,” he says. “As for me, my day job involves being a freak.” (He’s an adventurous performance artist and professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art.)

Cudlin keeps things down-to-earth when discussing Rope Goat Clan’s creative process. “We make a point of weaving fantasy narratives,” he says. “Rope Goat Clan is one of those collaborations where if one of us has an idea, the others just pile on, and soon the snowball is just zipping down the hill, getting bigger and bigger.”

The clan’s lyrics abound with invented slang, like on the masturbation anthem “Doing Doke Things” (listen below). Their mascot is G-Zeus, a character Cudlin describes as “a giant, fearsome, weed-powered combiner robot that the Clan forms when the universe needs defending.” G-Zeus looks like ’80s cartoon hero Voltron with one leg made of marijuana.

Currently, the group’s members are scattered across the country. Cudlin is still local; he lives in D.C.’s Petworth neighborhood. They all have jobs and families.

Yet the artist insists the Rope Goat Clan is unstoppable. He says his group is already working on a followup to Form G-Zeus.

“By the time we’re in our 60s,” Cudlin says, “we’re bound to make this whole rap superstardom thing materialize.”

Rope Goat Clan’s Form G-Zeus is available on CDBaby, Spotify and Amazon.

That’s certainly the case with “Smoke It Down,” the single the Hippie Life Krew honcho premiered this afternoon via Hot New Hip Hop.

“Oh, we’re going to smo-oh-oke it down,” he coos on the track, summoning nearby ladies to his zone of chillaxation. “Won’t you bring your friends around?”

There’s nothing hard-hitting about “Smoke It Down”: It’s straight-up cookout tuneage, except the smoke it’s giving off isn’t coming from a charcoal grill. (Also: I may have to retroactively add it to Bandwidth’s new playlist of D.C. summer songs.)

Listen to “Smoke It Down,” produced by The Democratz, below.

Photo via Visto’s Facebook page

That quote has context — MacKaye was talking about his old band Minor Threat’s if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em solution to shirt bootlegging — but in general, D.C.’s best-known record label really doesn’t do band swag. You won’t find any accessories, posters or clothing in the official Dischord store, not even from non-Dischord bands it distributes. If you want to buy a Dischord tee, you’ve got to go elsewhere, like Pedestrian Press, a company owned by the imprint’s other founder, Jeff Nelson.

But most touring D.C. musicians probably don’t share MacKaye’s position, and if they once did, they are probably rethinking that in the age of tepid physical sales.

So what D.C. bands and labels make the best merch-table fodder, besides records? Tough question. Bandwidth contributors put their heads together and came up with this list of creative standouts from local artists and record labels.

If you’d rather get your music from Soundcloud or Bandcamp, fair enough — you can support local music by buying this swag instead.

Note: We can’t guarantee that all of these items are still available.

Via Bandcamp

Coup Sauvage And The Snips’ “Your Condo Will Not Protect You” T-shirt

The D.C. dance-pop ensemble calls its music “a soundtrack for the children to watch the first world burn” — and this T-shirt won’t assure wealthy urbanites that they’re safe from the flames.

Via Tumblr

Ras Nebyu’s “Washington Slizzards” gear

The uptown MC christened his crew the Washington Slizzards, a name that even he acknowledges doesn’t mean much. Nebyu says he came up with the Wizards pun when he was joking around with his friend, and they thought it was funny, so they rolled with it. Then it blew up on Twitter. So Nebyu recorded a song by the same name and cranked out some T-shirts. That did it: the Washington Slizzards are totally real now.

Via Bigcartel

Moshers Delight sweatpants

The D.C. hardcore label makes its own sweatpants, probably for cozy roundhouse kicking in the pit.

Marijuana paraphernalia from Weed Is Weed and Dying Fetus

Both heavy Maryland bands have sold ganja supplies in the past: Dying Fetus slapped its name on an “herbal grinder,” and Weed Is Weed had its very own glass pipe. These guys understand their fans.

A Sound of Thunder “Blood Vomit” T-shirt

This shirt makes no attempt at subtlety. Then again, neither does the over-the-top metal band that commissioned it.

Via Bandcamp

Jack On Fire matchbook

From the band that wrote “Burn Down the Brixton” comes D.C.’s most black-humored merch: an official Jack On Fire matchbook — complete with a disclaimer, in case you get any funny ideas.

Via Bigcartel

Shy Glizzy’s “FXCK RAP” beanie

D.C.’s biggest street-rap up-and-comer takes a utilitarian approach to music: He said in a Fader interview with Bandwidth’s Briana Younger that he raps to make a living, calling hip-hop a “last resort.” His song “Fxck Rap” makes that much clear. “I know how to hustle, so f**k rap,” he says on the track. It’s all a little meta — a rapper rapping about the uselessness of his own rapping — and this rap beanie (yours for $10!) doubles the effect.

Via Causticcasanova.com

Caustic Casanova’s Bullets-style T-shirt

Dig stoner rock and D.C. sports history? Caustic Casanova has got the shirt for you.

A mildly NSFW shirt from Coke Bust

D.C. hardcore stalwarts Coke Bust sell an elaborate hand-drawn T-shirt designed by Brazilian punk rocker Xavero. Mind the nudity.

Via Silver Sprocket

Lemuria comic book

I wouldn’t doubt that the Syracuse/D.C. indie-pop band has loads of fun on tour, but this 40-page Lemuria comic book has them “travers[ing] the vast landscape of Russia, dodging roves of violent Nazis, crooked cops, mobster shakedowns, gunshots, a tropical storm, rabid dogs and a substandard German pizza.”

Windian Records 45 spinner

You can’t play most releases on the D.C. garage-rock label without one of these little guys.

Via Sean Gray

Accidental Guest’s “Morrissey Still Sucks” button

Record label owner (and Bandwidth contributor) Sean Gray seems to take glee in bashing musicians he dislikes, and these (free!) buttons make that contempt wearable.

Ex Hex tote bag

D.C.’s best rock band doesn’t sell any swag online, but catch the three-piece on tour and you’ll probably spot one of these simple tote bags at the merch table.

Via PPU

Peoples Potential Unlimited leggings

Andrew Morgan’s boutique funk record label makes excellent merch for vinyl obsessives, including slipmats and record bags that come in two sizes — for 12-inches and 7-inches — but I can’t think of another D.C. label that makes its own glamorous leggings like these ones designed by Lisa Stannard.

Via Facebook

Gloom sunglasses

If one day our world is destroyed by an exploding sun, our oblivion will probably sound like blackened death-metal band Gloom — and we’ll want to be wearing these shades to go out in style.

What merch did we miss? Drop us a comment or an email.

Photo by Flickr user Barb Crawford modified and used under a Creative Commons license.