American Television will release a coffee blend alongside its latest single. (Photo courtesy of American Television)

The guys from Northern Virginia pop-punk outfit American Television are buzzing over their latest release, and not just out of anticipation.

When the band premieres two new songs, “Death Defier” and “The Creek,” at DC9 this month, they’ll simultaneously be rolling out their very own signature coffee. Weird Brothers Coffee, based in Herndon, worked closely with the group on a variety of beans to pair with the release.

“It’s a bold flavor palate,” says American Television lead singer Steven Rovery. “It works well with the tone of our music.”

The coffee, dubbed Death Defier, is made from Sumatran, Guatemalan, and Ethiopian beans—a “good, aggressive, dark roast blend,” the roastery’s co-founder Paul Olsen says.

The track that Rovery says inspired the roast is an homage to an avid gambler and daredevil he admires.

“You bet the farm/Cards fall where they may/A specter in a dream,” Rovery sings over a cutting lead guitar melody. “Losing streak/But you can’t walk away/The turn card is all you see.”

“I personally am not much of a risk-taker, so watching people who are willing to do crazy stuff, I’m a little envious at times,” he explains.

He offers the band’s former guitarist, Matt Marinec, as an example. Marinec “packed everything he could fit into a bag and a guitar case” last year and moved to Italy to be with someone he loved, Rovery says.

“That was a pretty bold move to cross the pond to do that,” the singer says. “Not that I have any love interests over there—I’m married—but seeing somebody that was willing to do that, I was like, ‘that’s respectable.’”

Death Defier is an homage to “an avid gambler and daredevil.” (Photo courtesy of American Television)

The second song, “The Creek,” is a bright, nostalgic tribute to summertime spent outdoors: “Star-filled skies for gazing/From Adirondack chairs/Fire fueled by stories/And our collective laughs.”

Rovery wrote the lyrics after a 2016 vacation with his wife and son to Maryland’s Deep Creek Lake. He spent childhood summers away at camp, and he and his wife both grew up around lake country in New Jersey and New York.

“It definitely felt like we were really returning to having a semblance of our youth, and we were now able to enjoy it with our son.”

“Death Defier,” the title of the two-track record, will be available digitally and in a very limited 20-unit run on vinyl. It marks American Television’s fifth release, following their 2017 benefit single “Jane.”

The band has tried creative approaches to marketing new music in the past. Those who bought the download code for their 2016 EP Reaction, for example, received a custom box of matches or a collection of band-designed pop art.

“Moving vinyl and CDs and other music formats is a little difficult because we’re not a touring band,” Rovery says, explaining why the band ups the ante for its music purchases.

The decision to pair the new single with coffee arose from drummer Bryan Flowers’ patronage of Weird Brothers Coffee beginning when the roastery opened in 2017, as well as a shared love for the brew among the band.

“We all are coffee drinkers…. we basically need it to survive, so we’re like, ‘Why not make our own?’”

They’re in good company. Artists that have brewed their own batches for releases include punk legends The Descendents and Baltimore post-punk duo Ed Schrader’s Music Beat. Judas Priest also did it in 2015 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of British Steel. (For those interested, Vice explored the broader trend of food/drink-music pairings a couple years ago.)

“With the high energy that goes into punk and metal, I think coffee is a great thing to match,” says Olsen, of Weird Brothers. “We’re all adrenaline junkies. What better way to fuel that high energy than with some good caffeine?”

“Death Defier”—the coffee and the record—officially premieres July 28 at DC9. Northern Virginia power pop group The Combs, all-female rock quartet The OSYX, and grunge rockers Virginia Creep have joined American Television on the bill. One-pound bags of coffee will be available for purchase for $15. Pre-orders for the record and the coffee are now available.