The verse and the chorus may be the crucial components of a tune—the brain and heart respectively—but they tend to wilt without the oft-forgotten little organs that prop them up. Title Tracks’ Jon Davis knows what these parts are, where they go, and how to tweak them. He’s a guy you can trust to deploy a pre-chorus. He knows how to write a sturdy hook. As far as middle eights go, he might as well have an honorary Ph.D from the Elvis Costello School of Thoroughly Academic Songwriting. Of course, this wisdom didn’t arrive out of nowhere. Davis had a lot of time to refine his skills playing in bands like Georgie James and Q and Not U. But in D.C., right now, he’s one of the last guys who know how to compose a song that’s fully alive and ambulatory.

TITLE TRACKS PERFORMS AT 9 P.M. AT THE BLACK CAT, 1811 14th St. NW. $8. (202) 667-7960.