Well, it looks like everyone needs a vacation. Not many choices but maybe you’ll run into your favorite local band as you stumble your way home. If not then, check out these three bands and see if they could be a part of your July 4th plans!

• Spindrift, The Flash Express | 8:30pm at The Echo - Map | 18+ | Tickets $10 Buy now
• Castledoor | 9:00pm at The Scene - Map | 21+

Photo by Rich62

Here is your Thursday night music lineup. Go get a drink and take in a show, you owe it to yourself.

• Get Back Loretta, The Union Line, Golden Animals, The Deadnotes | 7:30pm at Knitting Factory - Map | All Ages | Tickets $10 Buy Now
• Constantines | 12:00pm (That’s noon!) at Little Radio Warehouse | Ages not specified | Tickets $TBA
• My Imaginary Friends, Man and the Motorcar | 8:00pm at Silverlake Lounge - Map | 21+ | Tickets $8 Buy Now
• The Flying Tourbillion Orchestra, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians, Summer Darling, Fol Chen | 8:30pm at The Echo - Map | 18+ | Tickets $5

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Your Official Amy Winehouse Update

Alright, so whoever had “punches fan at festival” in the Amy Winehouse trouble pool congratulations, you win $50. England’s favorite drugged out sweetheart appeared to punch a fan during her Saturday night performance at the famed Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom. According to CNN.com, Winehouse stepped down into the pit between the outdoor stage and the audience during a rendition of “Rehab,” and seemed to lash out at a member of the crowd before being gently escorted back to the stage by security staff (I’m betting the crowd member already has some sort of deal with a British tabloid). According to festival organizer Michael Eavis, Winehouse lashed out at the fan because someone had grabbed her breasts. Notice that he didn’t say that the fan grabbed her breasts, just “someone.” If you haven’t been playing the “What in the World Is Up With Amy Winehouse” home game, then you’ve missed recent incident with Winehouse which have included singing racial slurs on tape at a drug den, wandering outside in a diaper and reportedly being diagnosed with emphysema as a consequence of chain smoking cigarettes and crack.

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LA.CityZine brings you band, The Pity Party as a part of our Know Your LA Bands series. These two people, who are too good looking for their own good, can be compared to a Rilo Kiley pair. However, that’s just at a first glance. Forget the red hair comparison. The Pity Party brings you music that is moody, punk, pop and rock all at once. With both members playing multiple instruments (Heisenflei on drums, keys and vox and M on auto orchestra/electric guitar), this party is nothing to pity. Creating a sound that is almost ahead of our time (definitely not for those teeny boppers, but maybe for hipsters who have good taste and aren’t snobby about it), the Pity Party brings us music that is unfamiliar yet addictive.

The Pity Party has already gained critical acclaim as LA Weekly’s “Best Band in LA” in their weekly reader poll of 2007, Number 1 MySpace find by Supersweet Magazine, and NME’s Radar Band of June 2008. Being asked to play abroad isn’t unusual for bands in the states but The Pity Party is increasing their fan base in the US with each day as their multi-tasking inflict awe on their audiences. Don’t be fooled by all those instruments being set up on stage. There’s only two of them. If you want to get a taste of this futuristic punk as f*** band, head on out to the Echo Curio tomorrow on Thursday, July 3rd at 8:00 PM. The red hair, all their multi-tasking limbs and eerily fascinating Silverlake sound will be there. If you can’t make it out, make sure to purchase their first EP, Orgy Porgy, which is available through their myspace. The EP is eco-friendly and comes with 7 different covers featuring very lovely creatures designed by Ronald Dezerigian. Photo credited to Timothy Norris.

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I swear, sometimes Wednesdays are the liveliest days of the week. Forget about Hump Day - by the time you get to these shows, the worst part of Hump Day is over! Here is your music tonight!

• Coco’s Cut Rate Circus! | 7:30 pm at House of Blues Sunset Strip - Map | 18+ | Tickets $10 Buy Now
• July 4th Spectacular with the LA Dodgers | 7:30 pm at Hollywood Bowl - Map | Ages not specified | Tickets $ 12 Buy Now
• An Evening with Jon Lovitz! | 8:00 pm at Laugh Factory Hollywood - Map | Ages 18+ | Tickets $20 Buy Now
• Latin Laugh Fest | 8:00 pm at Acs Lounge - Soboba Casino - Map | Ages 21+ | Tickets $30 Buy Now
• Modey Lemon Featuring the Muslims | 8:30 pm at Echo - Map | Ages not specified | Tickets $8 Buy Now

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A simple idea…Get a band to play an acoustic set in a low-key outdoor environment. Make it a party and invite some friends to come down and watch. Have the band talk about their songs and themselves a little bit. Now, film the whole thing and what do you get?

In June, Southern California band Francisco the Man! was the first guest in the The Garden Party series. Lead singer Scotty Cantino writes deceptively simple tales of love, faith and drifting under diamond skies. The band dresses these tunes up in gorgeous harmonies that you could cut with a knife and a backbeat as steady as the freight trains that roll through the Inland Empire.

LA Cityzine presents Francisco the Man! in The Garden Party #1. [ Read The Full Story -> ]

Former jazz prodigy Taylor Eigsti came to the Jazz Bakery for four nights last week. I managed to catch Saturday night’s two shows (more on why two instead of just one later).

Eigsti’s quartet consisted of him on piano, bassist Harish Raghavan, drummer Jamire Williams, and fellow prodigy Julian Lage on guitar. The crowd for the show was small, even for an intimate venue like the Jazz Bakery. If you’ve never been to the Jazz Bakery (or any of the other businesses that now populate the former Helms Bakery complex) it may come as a bit of a surprise – the complex is truly massive, as it needed to be to supply bread to the entire city and parts beyond, but there’s no longer any baking going on, just a bunch of modern furniture stores, a few restaurants, and the Jazz Bakery.

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It’s not every Tuesday we get this many good choices! Definitely try to catch We Are Scientists or Ours (featured)…two very different, but very awesome bands! Or check out some of the many others…

• We Are Scientists, The Morning Benders, The Blood Arm | 8:00 pm at El Rey Theatre - Map | All Ages | Tickets $17 - Buy now
• The Henry Clay People, Switch, Swim Party | 10:00 pm at The Prospector-Map| 21+ | Tickets $5 - Buy now
• Gravy Train!!!, BRideZ, Frisco Dykes | 7:00 pm at The Echo - Map | All Ages | Ticket $12 - Buy now (Early show)
• Gravy Train!!!, BRideZ, Dragon Suede Boy | 10:00 pm at The Echo - Map | 18+ | Tickets $12 - Buy now (Late show)
• James Hunter, Joe Pug | 8:30 pm at Troubadour - Map | All Ages | Tickets $15 - Buy now
• Brad Kaleb cane, The Autumn Film, Stevie Starlight, Broken Ocean | at The Viper Room-Map | 21+ | Tickets at the door
• F. Scott & The Ashbury Band, William Tell, Blackmarket, Ante and After | 8:00 pm at Key Club - Map | 15+ | FREE
• Ours, Plane Jane Automobile, God or Julie | 7:30 pm at The Roxy - Map | All Ages | Tickets $18 - Buy now
• The Mae Shi, Death To Anders, Die Rockers Die, The Light FM | 9:00 pm at Spaceland - Map | 21+ | Tickets $8 - Buy now
• The Make Mentions, Kris Special, Marvelous Toy | 8:30 at Silverlake Lounge - Map | Tickets $5 (At the door)

Photo via myspace.com/oursmusic

Alkaline Trio defines the difference between Agony and Irony, the Los Lonely Boys are Forgiven, and Night Ranger deals out a Hole in the Sun.

Here are the CD Releases of the Week:

• Alkaline Trio | Agony and Irony
• Alltruisms | Clusterbombs
• G-Unit | T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight)
• Los Lonely Boys | Forgiven
• Night Ranger | Hole in the Sun

Free show night! Here is your round up of your local bands playing in LA tonight - with times, directions, ticket info and more. 

• Nash with DJ Funknastyfrench | 8:00pm at Knitting Factory - Map | All Ages | Tickets $10 Buy now
• Rumspringa, The 1912A, Slang Chickens, The Amazements | 8:30pm at The Echo - Map | 21+ | FREE
• Afternoons, The Happy Hallows, The Movies, Boxing Lesson | 9:00pm at Spaceland - Map | 21+ | FREE
• The Death Set, Cheeseburger | 9:00pm at King King - Map | 21+ | FREE (RSVP Required) 
• Kyle Mabson & Josh Taylor, Dommm, Laco$te, Extreme Animals, Hard Place, The Amazements | 9:00pm at Pehrspace - Map | All Ages | Tickets $5 

Photo by Stan D Payne

Sometimes we just need songs that will keep us moving. When I work out, I like to have songs with a constant rhythm so I can synchronize my actions to the beat of the song. This week’s playlist is a workout playlist!

1. Michael Jackson - Beat It | Preview and Buy
2. Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I’m Sexy | Preview and Buy
3. All American Rejects - Top of the World | Preview
4. Gloria Estefan - Turn The Beat Around | Preview and Buy
5.Cartel - Say Anything (Else) | Preview and Buy
6. Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder | Preview and Buy
7. Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure | Preview and Buy
8. Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl | Preview and Buy
9. White Stripes - 7 Nation Army | Preview and Buy
10. Survivor - Eye of the Tiger | Preview and Buy

On June 24th, Rumspringa released their debut EP, giving L.A. fans who have enjoyed Rumspringa’s Monday night residency at The Echo this month something tide them over until the band comes back again. This funk rock duo utilizes an intriguing mélange of musical styles, from ambient blues rock to an almost old-school rap. Singer Joey Stevens probes with a limber rockstar drawl even undertaking a Tom Waits-like raspy growl, emphasized in “Skulls and Phones.” The lyrics, ranging from simple and straightforward to obscure and dismal, effortlessly find their place within the rhythmic groove rolling through each song.

Rumspringa’s EP succeeds in developing six tracks of unique engaging sound that pulls the listener in with a laid-back hip musical vibe. Rumspringa’s synthesis of various musical elements contributes to an alternative rock style similar to what multi-instrumentalist Beck is known and loved for.

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