Yes, Black Teeth #1, the new collaboration between Washington DC’s Jay Nemeyer and Cleveland, OH’s Dan Miraldi, is made up of only two songs. Although only six minutes and 48 seconds in duration, the collection testifies loudly that rock and roll is alive and well. Black Teeth #1 is being released on Tuesday August 12, through the duo’s bandcamp site: danandjay.bandcamp.com. Nemeyer describes the project: “There are raw guitar tones, booming drums, pop chord progressions, and rock and roll emotion.” The project began with Miraldi and Nemeyer both having some songs that diverged from the material they normally did with their respective bands. Miraldi explains: “Jay and I had talked about a garage rock collaboration for a couple of years. Last summer, we both had some time when we were able to get together and record.” Both musicians grew up with a deep appreciation of 1960s and 70s rock and blues, but also were inspired by garage revivalists like the White Stripes and the Hives, as well as pop-punk acts like Weezer and Blink-182. The two musicians channel their wide spectrum of influences into these two new songs: “Set It Off” and “Witchu”.

To record, the pair met up in Cleveland and chose Grammy-nominee and Relient K drummer, Dave Douglas, to engineer and co-produce the tracks. “Dave is a fantastic engineer and producer. He knew exactly what sound we were going for, and had the tools to help us achieve our goal,” says Nemeyer. Miraldi adds: “Dave and I worked together when I did my Sugar & Adrenaline record. He is so versatile. I was pumped to be able to work with him again and was really pleased with the results.”

In an unusual twist, each songwriter not only sang lead on his own contribution, but also handled the drum responsibilities for his track. The rest of the workload was divided with Nemeyer providing all of the guitars while Miraldi tackled the bass, keys and vocal harmonies. “Jay is one of those guitarist who can slay with the best of them. When I wrote “Set It Off”, I knew that Jay would know exactly what to do and he delivered,” states Miraldi. Nemeyer adds: “I feel like Dan and my talents compliment each other. He is a very talented singer, lyricist, and creator of melodies.”

Although the two’s most celebrated collaboration is probably The Silver Liners, the band that Nemeyer continues to front and in which Miraldi was a member from 2009 to 2011, the two share an intertwined musical history that spans back eight years. The two first met in their late teens at The College of Wooster. They were members of The Cherry Flavored Elevator and released a self-titled album in 2008. Nemeyer also provided his guitar talents to Miraldi’s Thirsty (2009) and Tease (2010) and occasionally sits in Dan’s touring band, The Albino Winos.

Will there be a Black Teeth #2? Miraldi responds: “When Jay and I first met, we bonded over our love of garage rock bands like the White Stripes. We had a good time getting back to our roots during these sessions. If the songs go over well, anything is possible.”

Black Teeth #1 is available starting Tuesday, August 12 on danandjay.bandcamp.com.