Back to the garage

It might seem that a lot of shows I go to see at the House of Targ are entirely guitar-free, but every once in a while  pine for the old six-string and go to check out some garage rockers. Le Deuxluxes have been making a bit of a splash on the Montreal music scene with their two-man blues-garage sound, Muck & The Mires were primed to make a return visit to Targ, so Patrick Shanker tipped them off and opened things up (along with Chris and Jon, both of too many bands to mention). Here's Patrick, working the dots.



Rhythm section action!



Jon sings!



Chris sings!



Patrick sings!



More singalong action!



And so on!



On to Muck & The Mires! This was the third time I've seen them, and they're stucking to their guns in the traditional Boston garage that runs froms The Remains to The Lyres to the present day. Here's Muck and Jesse!



Bass action with John Quincy!



Peter sings!



Singalong action!



Smiley action with Jesse!



Guitar action!



The whole lot!



And so on!



Peter sings one!



I can't say much about the musical history of Etienne Barry and Anna Frances Meyer - the deux in Les Deuxluxes, but I will say they sound a bit like Mark Sultan covering Jon Spencer (or vice-versa). They have a new album, Springtime Devil, out Sept. 15. Here's Anna-Frances!



Guitar-and-drum action with Etienne!



The whole lot!



Leopard-print action!



More Etienne and Anna Frances!



Unfortunately at that point my camera battery conked out, so I didn't get nearly the number of Deuxluxes photos I wanted; other than that, it was a great night.

Last band standing

Saturday night I made a rare trip to Irene's. It still hosts a bunch of great shows, but I find the place is usually full by the time I drag my lazy self down there. Patrick Shanks was kind enough to put me on the guest list, so I knew there'd be a place in what was obviously going to be a sold out show by local legends The Stand GT, The Sir John A. MacDonalds and Gruesomes offshot Fuad & The Feztones.

As it happened, there was a sickness in the MacDonalds, so Patrick played a solo set, including some new J-Macs material.



There was also an a capella encore of his Wake And Bake tribute to pot-smoking and bicycyling.



On to The Stand GT. They reformed for a set at Ottawa Explosion 2014, which I missed due to the schooling and giant-pepper-mill making. Thus, while Chris Page has appeared (solo and with Camp Radio) a bunch of times, as has Colin Majid (with Garaga and others), this is actually the band's first appearance. Here's some rhythm section action with Colin and Wally!



Doug frets!



Chris sings!



Pickin' action!



Standing action!



Doug sings!



Colin sings!



Bonus Wally!



More Chris!



The whole blurry, fisheyed lot!



Less blurry action!



Fuad & The Feztones take their stylings from early '60s frat rock and such outfits as Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs. If they had been around then, they'd be on a Norton record now. First, some saxophonic action!



Banner action!



Bassist Rich N. Ready introduces the man himself!



Chugging action with Fuad Ramses (a.k.a. Bobby Beaton)!



Thumbs up action!



Backup vocal action!



Fuad sings!



Rich sings!



More saxophone!



Fraternal action!



Keyboard action!



Gruesome twosome action!



Of course, they finished off with Louie Louie.

All along the Clocktower

I've seen a show or two at the Clocktower Pub. It's rec room was the sight of one of Birdman Sound's festive parties in December 2005. You can see some familiar faces in that shoot, including Patrick Shanks, a.k.a. Merle Knurling, in the background and Bill Guerrero, who was the soundman for this particular evening drumming for Weapons of Mass Seduction. Now here's Merle Knurling with odes to baby-giraffe punching and the like, with visuals provided by the Hilarious House of Frightenstein.



See-through Merle!



And so on!








The hope is that these Clocktower gigs will become a regular monthly event, and there will be more rock action on March 21. Once again Cold Coffee and Salty Boots (including Patrick on bass) will take the floor, this time with Owl Farm and Nervous System. In further Shanker news, he's be performing with Romps at Irene's, along with T.O's The Von Drats and Mississippi Grover April 4.

• Show reminder: The Airborne Toxic Event, Alberta Cross and The Henry Clay People play Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Eric John Band perform at The Rainbow; River City Junction - them again! - perform at the Elmdale House.