#los straightjackets

[nofatclips-home]

Went To A Party by Nick Lowe & Los Straightjackets, live on KEXP

[lordrumbuckaroo]

[krispyweiss]

Los Straightjackets at Natalie’s Grandview, Columbus, Ohio, May 8, 2024

Give Los Straitjackets an unlistenable number - “My Heart Will Go On,” say - and they’ll give fans a thick slab of irresistible instrumental surf rock in return.

Celine Dion’s “Titanic” abomination signaled the homestretch of the Columbus, Ohio, stop on the masked quartet’s 30 Años de Los Straitjackets tour May 8 inside a sold-out Natalie’s Grandview. Theme songs from “Batman” and “Midnight Cowboy” followed with guitarists Eddie Angel and Greg Townson playing in twin harmony over tight rhythmic flooring from Pete Curry on bass and drummer Chris Sprague.

Performing at the confluence of musical seriousness and playful showmanship, Los Straitjackets’ gig dealt in all-inclusive entertainment. So it was that the band - clad head-to-toe in black with matching medallions around their necks, their heads under individualized Lucha Libre wrestling masks and crammed on to the postage-stamp-sized Charlie’s stage in the smaller of Natalie’s two concert spaces - formed kick lines, struck exaggerated wrestling-ring poses and even incorporated a squeaking rubber chicken into “Itchy Chicken.”

They paired such shenanigans with musicianship 180 degrees removed from the hilarity, such as when Angel, alone on stage save for a dancing Sprague, offered snippets of “The Last Time,” “Ticket to Ride” and “Rumble” between lighting-fast improvisation. The guitarist later launched a mas-cowbell gag in which he and his bandmates ripped into bits of “Low Rider” and “Don’t Fear the Reaper” for the punchline.

Introduced by a red-suited hype man 90 minutes before the final encore, the Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird,” featuring the evening’s only vocal courtesy of Sprague, the Straightjackets set the crazy tone early with the originals “Pacifica” and “Outta Gear,” the latter featuring Angel striking his sparkly axe and running his fingers over the top of the neck with virtuosic precision and thrilling sounds. They cooled things down with the sock-hop, slow-dancer “April Showers;” nodded to their inspiration on the Ventures’ “Driving Guitars (Ventures Twist);” and offered familiar-to-everyone melodies such as “Love Potion Number Nine” and the ironically titled “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

The penultimate “Tailspin” found Sprague coming out from the kit to play lead guitar; Angel switching to bass; and Curry bashing away on the drums. It seemed designed to underscore that behind the ridiculousness of it all, Los Straitjackets - who also serve as Nick Lowe’s go-to touring band - are about musicality first and last.

Grade card: Los Straightjackets at Natalie’s Grandview - 5/8/24 - A

See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.

5/9/24

[chronivore]

1996

[senor-plume]

A twangy and fun cover of the Ray Parker hit.

[krispyweiss]

Song Review(s): Los Straightjackets - “In My Room” and “Bus Stop”

Los Straightjackets might be crazy, but they ain’t stupid.

And they’re smart enough to know covering two of rock’s greatest harmony groups via “In My Room” and “Bus Stop” is not the time to start singing. So they did not.

Instead, the masked men employ their trademark surf-a-billy sound on their respective Beach Boys and Hollies remakes and allow the guitars to follow the vocal melodies.

“In My Room” is particularly pleasing; however, “Bus Stop” is no slouch either as the ’Jackets strike the right balance between familiarity and ingenuity.

Grade card: Los Straightjackets - “In My Room” and “Bus Stop” - A/B

10/13/20

[krispyweiss]

EP Review: Nick Lowe with Los Straightjackets - Lay it on Me

Parking themselves firmly between the spaces occupied by Buddy Holly and the pre-America Beatles, Nick Lowe and Los Straightjackets bring late-middle-20th-century rock ‘n’ roll in to the early 21st with Lay it on Me.

Four songs running just 11 minutes, Lay it on Me is a much longer backward trip as Lowe and his masked compatriots recall more innocent times with handclaps, jangly guitars and songs of love both happy (the title track) and sad (“Don’t Be Nice to Me”), both originals.

I dare a cloud to rain on this parade, Lowe sings on the former before he goes looking for a rock big enough for me to crawl under on the latter.

Lowe, who produced, covers Brenda Lee’s “Here Comes That Feeling” before retiring to the console for the Straightjackets’ twangy, reverb-laden take on Shocking Blue’s “Venus,” which wraps it all up on a high, instrumental note in the shadow of the Shadows.

Grade card: Nick Lowe with Los Straightjackets - Lay it on Me - B+

6/10/20

[krispyweiss]

Song Review(s): Nick Lowe feat. Los Straightjackets -“Lay it on Me Baby” and “Don’t be Nice to Me”

Talk about mixed messages.

On two singles from his forthcoming joint with Los Straightjackets, Nick Lowe wants you to “Lay it on Me Baby” before commanding, “Don’t be Nice to Me.”

While the songs are lyrically dichotomous, they’re musically simpatico, coming right out of the late-1950s, early-rock-‘n’-roll era. And Lowe, whether walking on air or wanting to go underground, remains as off-kilter as ever.

I dare a cloud to rain on this parade, he sings on the former.

When I find a rock big enough for me to crawl under/I’m gonna hang a sign outside to the world - stay away/don’t be nice to me, Lowe sings on the latter.

With electric guitars shrouded in slight reverb and early-Ringo-flavored percussion propelling the proceedings, both tracks from Lay it on Me (June 5) harken back to a more-innocent age without sounding too far out of time.

Grade card: Nick Lowe feat. Los Straightjackets -“Lay it on Me Baby” and “Don’t be Nice to Me” - B/B+

5/6/20