Ah, July 4th is just around the hazy, heat wave-stricken corner. Time to celebrate all that is American: hot dogs, sparklers, PBR, mosquito bites, capitalism…oh right, none of that actually sounds that all that great. How about you ditch your gramps & long lost cousin Benny at the family picnic this week and instead spend some time listening to all the music this wonderful city has to offer? The shows are cheap, and hey, the MLB totally sends out Phillies play-by-plays via text message, so you won’t be missing any action.

Tuesday

Yo Soybean, Aaron Coile, Unearthed, Portland Senator @ The Fire - 9pm, $7
*All of these acts have a DIY folky feel that really suits the balmy summer nights that we’ve been experiencing lately.

Wednesday

Mikal Shapiro & boog @ Steel City Coffee House - 8 pm, $5
*By 18, boog was already a Philly music staple, widely regarded as “important” by the likes of The Deli Magazine; he’s a baby Tom Waits who you will regret missing when you come across him on WXPN…

Thursday

2AM Club, TVTV, Menya @ North Star Bar - 8 pm, $10
*Sounds like: An indie movie directed by Sofia Coppola. Alright, maybe that is a bit vague… Instead, think of electro-pop infused with some garage rock. Danceable, but with much more street cred than Lady Gaga.

Friday

Dylan Andre w/ Never Look Back, Hillary Wallace, & the Michael Stephenson Quartet @ Chaplin's - 8 pm, $10
*Hillary Wallace is really short and really young, yet her set of pipes are completely Aretha Franklin-esque (aka awesome). Not to mention, you probably are not venturing to the ’burbs enough (mmm, boring, smog-free air).

Saturday

Julia Haltigan @ Milkboy Acoustic - 7:30 pm
*On her Myspace, Haltigan lists “[…] motorcycles, Elvis, Etta James […]” as her interests, which is almost precisely what her songs bring to mind.

Sunday

*Lay around in your (or someone else’s…we won’t ask) underwear listening to the music player on our homepage.

Monday

We Were Promised Jetpacks w/ Bear Hands & The Static Jacks @ The Note - 8 pm, $12
*We Were Promised Jetpacks are from Scotland which somehow makes their mature, refined brand of indie rock even cooler; Bear Hands and The Static Jacks follow suit, only without the trek across the pond.

**Be cool...stay cool...click here for a list of all of this week's shows.**

All Ages this week:

6/29 MC Chris w/ MC Lars, Math the Band, YT Cracker & Blackwolf @ The Note - 8 pm, $13

6/30 Mikal Shapiro & boog @ Steel City Coffee House - 8 pm, $5

7/1 Jeanette Beirne @ Milkboy Acoustic - 7:30 pm

7/2 Sam West @ Milkboy Acoustic - 7:30 pm

7/3 Julia Haltigan @ Milkboy Acoustic - 7:30 pm