Music Blog

MUSIC REVIEW: Los Straitjackets

icon By Frank De Blase on Aug. 29th, 2007 at 8:20am       0 Comments

You'd think the super-salacious, twangtastic, luchadorable Los Straitjackets would be impossible to overshadow. The masked quartet's B-movie, beach blanket boogie is all kinds of fun, son. And the precision musicianship is made oddly hysterical by the deadpan gaze the members give Advertisementthrough their wrestling mask eyeholes. And when's the last time you saw 600 souls shimmy in George Eastman's backyard?

Anyhow, overshadowed...right. Big Sandy has joined the group for its album "Rock En Espanol," and the subsequent tour where the masked guitar marvels play beneath Sandy's golden-throated takes on classics by groups like The Kinks and The Clovers. Well lemme just say Sandy is the vocal re-incarnation of Jackie Wilson. He even sang "Lonely Teardrops," shifting smoothly between Spanish and English. If and when he opts to do "Doggin' Around" I'll leave my car at the red light and go home; my life will be complete.

The way the kids gravitated to the band after the show gave me an idea: there should be a Los Straitjackets cereal. I dunno, how about "Frosted Luchos"? Yeah, with little horchata-flavored marshmallow wrestling masks. I shared this idea with the band with the understanding that I'd get a cut. We're gonna be rich.

Had the honor and pleasure to warm up the show with the Spiritus Christi Gospel Choir adding some sanctity to the insanity beneath the lo-fidelity raunch. Secular never sounded so succulent.

Don't call it a reunion; Cheater's back, baby. The band (original line-up) positively packed NOLA's Friday night to rock its first fanbase - and that fanbase's kids - silly. I made the scene as the band was mid-Journey. Now honestly I don't even like when Journey does Journey, but boy, that Jeff Cosco can sing. Show favorite: the double-entendre filled "Your Eyes." Yup, I'm an eye man.

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Blog Post Photos

Los Straitjackets in the George Eastman garden. CREDIT: Frank De Blase

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