Reviews have been positive about the sound, but more muddled on the message.

The video features singers from Union Temple Baptist Church.

They don’t like it.

The new album is inspired, in part, by a visit to D.C.

There’s always something special about last shows. Whether the final episode of a beloved television series, or the farewell tour of a band, or even just the closing show of a tour, the artists involved always seem to throw a little something extra into the mix. So what does that mean for someone like Ted Leo, who closed out his tour Saturday night at the 9:30 Club, for whom giving roughly 210% at any…

By DCist Contributor Mehan Jayasuriya We here at DCist have noticed a rather disturbing trend recently. More and more often, it seems, touring bands are skipping over the District in favor of our neighbor to the north, Baltimore. It makes sense if you think about it: Baltimore has a burgeoning arts scene, a variety of music venues and a seemingly disproportionate reputation for housing a large number of twentysomething scenesters (not that we’re short on…

Behold the power of Broken Social Scene (and constant touring). When Feist made her first stop in town last May she played to a half-full room at the Black Cat opening for British Sea Power. A few more stops through town in ’05 and a mere eight months later she is headlining the Cat and sold it out to boot. The crowd inside was a mix of hipsters and um…people that don’t go to many…

(Interview by DCist contributor Colleen Clark) Laura Burhenn is playing tonight at DC9 with Metrosexuals and The Guins, and May 19 at the Black Cat backstage. You can listen to some of her mp3s here. Local musician Laura Burhenn’s song, “Helicopters,” first fell into our hands on a mixtape from an old colleague. We joked that it was the lost song from the “Garden State” soundtrack (and we mean that in a good way, in…

Even though there was plenty of stuff on TV last night, DCist left the couch behind in order to catch the uber-sexy Polly Jean Harvey at the 9:30 Club as she brought her Uh Huh Her tour to D.C. The early show time didn’t keep fans away as the club was filled to capacity shortly before she took the stage at 7:15 p.m. Dressed in black ankle boots and a smallish yellow dress that…

Because we like to keep you in the know, here’s an updated list of upcoming shows, through middle of October or so (if we’ve missed anything, please let us know!). A couple of DCist-ers will be in attendance at the Thrills show tomorrow night at the Black Cat, so come on out! 9/17: Lungfish, Black Cat 9/18: The Thrills, Black Cat 9/23: The Walkmen, 9:30 Club 9/24: Fiery Furnaces, Black Cat 9/25: Travis Morrison, Galaxy…