Every rock fan knows the success of a musician’s pasts can overshadow his or her present, cropping the growth of his or her current project. And with the indie-rock royalty in Maritime, it is difficult to completely remove the influential bands The Promise Ring, Cap’n Jazz and The Dismemberment Plan from the band’s resumé.

“There was no cleaning of the slate. … It was not a nice, clean break,” drummer Dan Didier says. “People will probably continue to compare our present to our past.”

Maritime’s members, however, embrace their history and appreciate the benefits of not having to start from scratch, as they already have connections for booking and distribution, he says. Those connections helped land them their gig Monday at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington.

After the Promise Ring called it quits in 2002, vocalist/guitarist Davey von Bohlen and Didier regrouped and wrote some songs under the name In English. When The Dismemberment Plan disbanded in 2003, members called their old friend bassist Eric Axelson to round out the line-up, changing the band’s name to Maritime.

“I didn’t feel like the end of The Promise Ring was the end of making music,” Didier says. “The Promise Ring is just a blurb of a hopefully long music career.”

Maritime recorded some of its songs on the debut album Glass Floor with producer and rock veteran J. Robbins at Phase, a studio a few blocks from the campus. Didier never visited this university during the sessions, but indulged in some of the restaurants in the area, including the much-beloved Chipotle.

Glass Floor exhibited traces of The Promise Ring in its introspective songs, but the set of songs on Floor were more mature and hopeful than The Promise Ring’s final album. Floor even bordered on the twee-pop of Belle & Sebastian on the track “Sleep Around,” with its playful melody and bright horn section.

Released earlier this year, We, The Vehicles demonstrated Maritime’s ability to write slick, catchy pop tunes emphasized by smart hooks and clean production. The response was more “polarized” for Glass Floor, whereas the latest album has received “consistent reviews” that reside on the more positive side of the criticism spectrum, Didier says.

“Never make the same record twice,” he comments on the differences in sound of the two albums. “We, The Vehicles is a 180 from the first record.”

Axelson left Maritime in February, citing his desire to get off the road and stay closer to Washington – because von Bohlen and Didier were based out of Milwaukee, Wis., Axelson was forced to often fly out from this area to practice and write with them, a constant process that took its toll on the bassist.

As a result, Justin Klug of the indie-rock band Decibully replaced Axelson and guitarist/keyboardist Dan Hinz filled out the line-up. Both new additions live in Milwaukee, making shows, songwriting and recording more convenient for Maritime as a whole.

Although the original members came together in 2003, Didier said he feels the band really started March of this year – the date of Klug’s first show with Maritime.

“I finally feel like we’re a band,” Didier says. “We now have four solid members.”

Maritime has been recording demos in preparation for its third album, which Didier hopes will be released late next year. Meanwhile, the band is touring in support of We, The Vehicles and performing new material.

The band’s schedule these days is not as rigorous as the tours they once embarked on with their previous bands, Didier says, mainly because of their families.

“[Family] is one more thing to draw inspiration from,” he says about the influence of becoming a father. “Emotional output is intensified by a new life: It inspires creativity.”

Maritime will be performing Monday at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Tickets are $10.

Contact reporter Nancy Chow at chowdbk@gmail.com.