Singer/guitarist John Davis (Q And Not U, Georgie James), bassist Michael Cotterman (Kid Dynamite, The Loved Ones) and drummer Elmer Sharp (Roofwalkers) handled their WAMU session with consummate ease: The songs “I Don’t Need To Know” and “Low Cool” sprung to life with all the immediacy that might be expected from a band with new material simmering for so many months. (If you’re a longtime WAMU 88.5 listener, you might already be familiar with Title Tracks’ sound — an instrumental version of “Every Little Bit Hurts” was the opening theme for the station’s now-retired Metro Connection show.)

The band celebrates the release of Long Dream on Friday night at Comet Ping Pong in D.C. The album is available for pre-order via Dischord Direct.

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“We aren’t a band that can say that we’ve been playing since the ’80s,” Nicholson says. “We’re not hardcore punk — we never said that.” But the songwriter and musician — who spent a chunk of his life in the hip-hop trio Opus Akoben — says being from D.C. imparts regional cachet.

“The analogy I always [use] is, say if Kraft cheese needed a new CEO, and a guy from Parma, Italy, got the job,” he says, “people would look at him and say, ‘Oh man, that cat’s from Parma. He knows his cheese.'”

But after the release of Thaylobleu’s debut album, there shouldn’t be any question that the band knows its cheese — rather, its rock ‘n’ roll. Oscars & Jellyfish crackles, with cutting guitars and even sharper social commentary. Musically the record pays homage to ’70s metal, but there’s nothing nostalgic about Nicholson’s lyrics, which tell true, modern-day stories about gentrification and police harassment, among other subjects. (Stream Oscars & Jellyfish right here.)

Earlier this summer, Bandwidth invited Thaylobleu into our studio, hoping to catch a few of the sparks that fly on Oscars & Jellyfish. The band gave us even more than we hoped for. Check out Thaylobleu’s live performances of “Locked” and “Rose in the Briars,” two slashers that flex both the brain and brawn that make D.C. a punk-rock capital, past and present.

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Photos by Rhiannon Newman

The group’s tuneful and brainy 2015 album Hot Cloud followed four years of relative quiet, and they played only a couple of local gigs to promote it. One of them took place in November at Arlington cubby hole Galaxy Hut — indoor capacity 66 — to an audience of IPA-sippers who may not have known they were witnessing a rare show from one of D.C.’s best rock bands.

The members of More Humans have busy professional and family lives, which explains their Cicadian show sked. That’s not likely to change soon. But here at Bandwidth, we’ve got the next best thing: two More Humans songs recorded live in our studio.

In these videos shot in May at WAMU, More Humans tear through a pair of Hot Cloud standouts: “Big Day” (above) and “Said Bird” (below). They’re both magic in a bottle.

Photos by Rhiannon Newman

Earlier this spring, Laney brought The Spirits through the Wilderness Bureau studio in D.C. and shared two songs from her recent self-titled album. Watch the band perform “Allston (Dance Around)” and “Who Could Love.”

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Taking a break from their tour with Ra Ra Riot, the band delivered a couple of frenetic pop tunes in our studio.

Above, watch Sun Club play the brand new, unreleased track “Dirty Slurpee” live at the Wilderness Bureau, and don’t miss “Worm City,” off of their debut album, The Dongo Durango, below.

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With a history of anxious, acrobatic rock music (see: Dismemberment Plan), the D.C. region seems like the only place on Earth that could have birthed a band as squirrely as Two Inch Astronaut. But six years after its debut, Slip Disco, the young trio has become harder to place on a timeline of D.C. rock.

Two Inch Astronaut is one of D.C.’s most prolific and evolving rock bands, playing loads of local gigs and constantly tweaking its sound — and the fruits of their labor are found on February’s Personal Life, their most refined album yet.

Don’t think “refined” equates to “tame,” however. On Personal Life, Two Inch Astronaut sounds just as brainy and wacked out as ever.

Watch Two Inch Astronaut rock “Personal Life” (above) and “At Risk Student” (below) live for Bandwidth.

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All photos by Rhiannon Newman

He recently visited Bandwidth’s offsite studio, the Wilderness Bureau — and our goth jungle stage — to deliver a spirited performance of “Appeals” and “Sincere,” from his forthcoming debut record, Primitives. 

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His father had been a pastor, the musician said in a 2011 interview. He grew up Mennonite, foretellings of fire and brimstone drilled into his head in church. Teachers urged Wert to consider leading a congregation. But Wert wanted no part of it.

“Religion is religion,” he said, “and I’d much rather share my joys and burdens on a Friday and Saturday night over some drinks than in a church come Sunday morning.”

For the last decade, Wert has shared his joys and burdens through his music, specifically a one-man project called Possessed by Paul James. Alternating between banjo, fiddle and guitar — while stomping his foot to keep rhythm — Wert has earned acclaim for his kinetic performances, many so intense they verge on the spiritual.

But playing music is the closest Wert has come to preaching, at least professionally. His main passion is education, with a focus on special-needs kids. He’s done it for 15 years, winning “Teacher of the Year” in his Texas school district in 2012. Now he’s working on a film that tracks his recent tour, during which he traveled the country with his family in an RV, talking with education stakeholders by day and playing music by night. The documentary is called When It Breaks.

In November, Possessed By Paul James came through D.C. to play a gig at Hill Country downtown, and he stopped by WAMU beforehand to record a couple of songs for Bandwidth. Above, witness the schoolteacher’s rapturous performance of “Grandmother, Oh Grandmother,” followed by a darker tune, “Heavy.”

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Bonus photos from the studio session, captured and edited by Peter Swinburne:

Now Leppin is channeling her talents into a solo project. Accompanied by a few friends, the musician recently stopped by Bandwidth’s offsite studio, the Wilderness Bureau, to play a few songs from the entrancing project, called Mellow Diamond.

Enjoy Mellow Diamond’s super-special performances of “In a Dream” (above) and “Paris to Beirut” (below).

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Photos by Maggie Famiglietti