Hot and greasy

As July rolled in I returned to the House of Targ for various flavours of old-style rock'n'roll action. The lineup was local blues duo Bearshark, The Hot Snake Handlers (the new combo from Lefty McRighty), and Toronto's Greasemarks, a really spot-on rockabilly combo. Bearshark were already ripping things up as I descended the stairs. Here's Jeff Coghill.



Hamish hits!



Omnivorous action!



Even more Hamish!



Jeff sings!



The end!



The Hot Snake Handlers are Greg Harris's post-90 Pounds of Ugly band, more rock'n'roll and less twang than previous efforts; he's joined by Jason Andersson, Timmy Jay Meathook and Tom Birkhan.



Upstanding action with Timmy Jay!



Tom hits!



Jason frets!



Guitar action!



Extra Lefty!



Bonus Timmy Jay!



Lefty sings!



Bonus faceoff action!



The Greasemarks really knocked it out of the park with some dead on straight-outta-Memphis 1950s sounds. The Toronto combo has been touring a lot and features three guys named Mark and one guy named Murry.



More standup action with Mark!



Murry hits!



Mark twangs a little.



Singalong action with Mark and Mark!



Murry and his stripped-down kit!



Guitar action!



Single-coil action!



Stage banter action!



Greasy action!



And some final bass action!



And let's not forget the matching shirts or The Misfits cover ....

Who's there?

When the first guy on stage says "Hello lady and gentleman," and isn't joking, you're entitled to worry about the attendance at a show. Particularly when that number includes the person watching the door. However, things did fill out a little at Cafe DeKcuf Saturday night, on a bill featuring Callan Furlong, 90 Pounds of Ugly and Dang Guilty.

Callan Furlong says a girlfriend once accused him of being a counterfeit country singer, and he has since taken to calling his tunes "counterfeit country." Judging from his songs, I'd say it was real country. And that he has a lot of girlfriend problems. He kicked things off with Hank Williams' Rambling man, and wrapped it up with a spooky version of You Are My Sunshine (coincidentally the subject of a Salon article today).


Callan Furlong at Cafe DeKcuf, May 25, 2013

On this occasion he was being backed by the guys from 90 Pounds Of Ugly, plus Lefty's dad Ray.


Callan Furlong at Cafe DeKcuf, May 25, 2013

On to the bawdy tuneage and witty banter of 90 Pounds of Ugly. They did a great job as always.


90 Pounds Of Ugly at Cafe DeKcuf, May 25, 2013

Cafe DeKcuf slapped some gels on those lights; a relief for performers but a pain for photographers.


90 Pounds Of Ugly at Cafe DeKcuf, May 25, 2013

As for Dang Guilty, their taste in covers ran to a rockabillified medley of The Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated and Blitzkreig Bop (there was a snatch of Link Wray's Rumble somewhere in the set too).


Dang Guilty at Cafe DeKcuf, May 25, 2013

Harmonica action!


Dang Guilty at Cafe DeKcuf, May 25, 2013

Good stuff all around.

Pound for pound

Lefty McRighty seems to be birthing bands left and right - Lefty McRighty & The Sinister Six is the latest - but here's one where he isn't up front, 90 Pounds of Ugly.  No worries, since Patsy Clash is a Grade-A frontwoman.

Standup steve, standing up, Clash and the legendary Ernie Legend.



Here's a well-illuminated Lefty.



Closeup action!



Standup action!



The whole lot!



Singalong with Steve!



Shadowy action!



Extra Clash!



Bolo tie action!



Extra Steve!



Lefty sings!



I don't know about 90 Pounds of Ugly, but Lefyt will be at Irene's with The Sinister Six (including Ernie and Steve) on June 2.

Ain't it a shame

Alright, we're back after a post-election day off. Up next in the "rock" half of the set was Lefty McRighty and The Shameless Bastards. Frontman Greg Harris was also getting kudos for organizing this shindig - he also handles the O-Town Hoedown, so he's just an organized guy.

Lefty sings!



On the right, "Standup" Steve Donnelly, who can also be seen in The Kingmakers.



We've also got Ray Haris, Lefty's dad, and drummer Ernie Legend.



Ernie hits!



Ray frets!



The whole lot!



Geetar action!



Bass action!



More Greg!



More Ray!



More Ernie!



You see it's not just any standup bass ...



Familial faceoff action!



For more Ray and Lefty action you can go to the Elmdale Tavern tonight, where they're part of the regular songwriter's circle - tonight's guests are Pat Moore and Shawn Tavernier.

• Show reminder: There's a Basement Artists Showcase at Zaphod's tonight, with Acorn Trail, Pia Ashley and Markas Carcas providing the music; Trees, The Dirty Nil Lightmares and Wolfshirt play the Rainbow; Liferuiner, Modern Miniatures, Aimless Endeavor, Ostarva and Perjury play Mavericks; Remember The Fire is at Greenfield's Pub.