Two years ago, Washington-area band The Blue Line was known as Three Months to Live, a name the band admits didn’t fit with its ‘90s alt-rock sound.
When the band was tapped to play a charity benefit for LIVESTRONG, an organization that deals with cancer research and awareness, they decided to part with the old moniker.
Tonight, the band — which includes a pair of university alumni who named the group after the Shuttle-UM route that once stopped at Carroll Hall — will bring its upbeat sound to the Rock & Roll Hotel in Washington to celebrate its CD release party.
Though the self-titled album will be sold in physical form for the first time at the show, the songs on it aren’t particularly new. Besides a free stream of the album on the Blue Line’s website, the band has been playing the tracks live for more than a year.
For its CD release event, the band is going to make sure they put forth the best show they can.
“Our plan is to up it a level, energy-wise, to try and attract more people to our music,” lead guitarist Ross Jacobson said. He added that the band will experiment with lights for the first time at the show.
Ben Payes, the band’s singer, rhythm guitarist and 2008 university graduate, added that the show will include new songs outside of those on the new album.
“As soon as this show’s over, we’re going to start recording our next EP,” he added.
And if the EP is anything like the new album, it will be brimming with upbeat guitar songs highlighted by Payes’ early Rivers Cuomo-esque vocals and Jacobson’s uncharacteristically technical guitar parts, an attribute Jacobson said came from all the metal he listens to.
Tonight’s show will also showcase two other local bands: the Very Small and Poor But Sexy. Payes said having these bands open only helps to add energy and eclecticism to the show, citing jazz, jam band, southern rock and Spanish influences among the three bands. Jacobson added that it will likely contribute to the “party atmosphere” the band is trying to achieve at the concert.
The attempt to achieve that sort of atmosphere may hearken back to the early days of the group, when they would make “backyard” appearances while at the university. Payes and Jacobson both preferred the lack of pressure during those performances to the more scrutinized shows at professional clubs. However, none are worried about quality tonight.
“We put on a show,” Payes said. “The show will be really good.”
“I legitimately really like our music, and I think [others] will too,” bassist Nick Scialli added.
Throughout the set, Payes said, the constant supply of energy will be the band’s biggest asset.
“We design the lineup in such a way to keep the excitement going, basically,” he said. “We’ve played these songs for a year and a half, and sometimes we get tired of them, but there’s certain ways we can group the songs where we’re just excited to play through the set.”
The Blue Line will play tonight at the Rock & Roll Hotel. Doors open at 8:30 p.m., and tickets cost $10.
jwolper@umdbk.com