Despite the multiple accolades some of us have given Death Cab for Cutie’s live shows in the past, sometimes, the band’s lo-fi stylings and muted yet upbeat melodies just don’t quite do it for all of us. A lot of times, their albums — though plenty and successful — always seem to leave us wanting a little something more. Last night however, not only did we get that little bit more, we were converted into…

Monday >> The hordes will flock to DAR Constitution Hall this Monday night to mark the return of Death Cab to D.C. with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. They recently added a second, Tuesday night show, but feel free to take your pick, as tickets are still available for both days. $34, 8 p.m. >> It’s black Monday in the district, as the nominal antithesis of the White Stripes, The Black Keys, complete another 2-day…

We know that rock ‘n’ roll has now been around long enough to be the subject of serious academic study. We can accept college level classes devoted to the cultural impact of punk, the influence of the artistic fringe on the work of the Velvet Underground, and the inventive and complex harmonies in the collected work of the Beatles. But doesn’t there have to be a line somewhere? What I really want to know is…

Barcelona, the sparkly new EP from Virginia’s Soft Complex transcends easy genre labeling. Containing three original tracks and their remixes, one could (and this one does) describe the disc as offering the best of Ben Gibbard. Ben who? Why Ben Gibbard, the force behind indie darlings The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie. Like the beloved Portland quartet, Soft Complex explores love, loss and lost love. Taking a quasi-literary apprach, the songs feel…

It’s not everyday that you’ll see droves of angst-ridden youth and adults marching down 17th St. in unison to DAR Constitution Hall. But last night’s lineup of two of the most esteemed bands in indie rock (with openers The Cribs) brought the masses to this seemingly odd choice of venue. Interestingly enough, while the tickets sold out almost immediately, there were plenty of empty seats and many scalpers outside before the show, frantically trying to…

MONDAY >> The 9:30 Club has enough hotness going on tonight to shut down for the rest of the week. Luckily, they’re not, but tonight will still be one hell of a night for music in its hallowed halls. Kicking things off with the early show are The Sounds, female-fronted Swedish rockers, peddling what we call indie and the rest of the world calls pop, much to the delight of reviewers ’round the Web. Touring…

TUESDAY Are you so pissed off at DCist for our marginal abetting of the Death Cab pre-sale sellout that you’re just busting to express your righteous hipster indignation in unrhymed dactylic hexameter? Rail against the machine, dude, at Busboys and Poets’ weekly open mic “session.” It all goes down tonight at 9 p.m. Tickets are handed out “approximately one hour” before, and they cost two dollars. Hmmm. We recommend “Indig Nation” as the new name…

FRIDAY: Canadian supergroup Stars wowed Death Cab for Cutie fans when they opened their show last year at 9:30 Club, and now they return as headliners to set the Black Cat stage on fire. Of course, this concert has been sold out for ages, and the desperation for tickets on Craigslist is palpable. We’ll see you fellow lucky bastards in what will no doubt be a breathtakingly long will-call line. For the rest of you,…

While most of us here at DCist are still basking in the warm, awesomeness-infused light of Unbuckled, there are a few other things going on in the music world. As we’re sure most of you have already heard, the heralds of the hipster era, most commonly known as The Strokes, are bringing their First Impressions of the Earth tour to D.C. Dates have been added to this much anticipated tour slowly, but we finally got…

A couple of months back we posted information on a pre-sale for tickets to see the Foo Fighters in a special, one night only show at the 9:30 Club. Needless to say, our decision wasn’t met with kind words from the band’s “real” fans, who proceeded to leave us all types of dirty comments and even went as far as to post the address of yours truly on a 9:30 Club Forum thread. So when…