Deranged Surf Wrestlers Attack AM Radio Staples!

Scott Thill

To be truthful, it's hard to listen to anything these days. There's so much instability in the world and the streets that it's normal to look over your shoulder, have a decreased attention span, or feel nervous for probably no immediate reason at all. "This ain't no party," David Byrne once shrieked in the Talking Heads staple, "Life During Wartime," and I'm nodding my head in agreement as I'm writing this.

But, in some cases, nostalgia can soothe this different type of savage beast, and the latest disc that can make a strange world turn familiar again comes straight from the Nashville instrumentalists Los Straitjackets themselves, whose fifth release, Sing Along With Los Straitjackets, brings a star-studded list of vocalists and musicians to cover some of the greatest pop Americana ever put down on wax. You might not recognize some of the titles of these 50s and 60s AM radio standards, but your muscle memory will kick in when you hear them. And if a smile doesn't come to your face, well, maybe it just wasn't meant to happen, my friends.

Los Straitjackets, for those who might not know, are a group of surf music afficionados that show up onstage wearing Mexican wrestling masks and brandish fierce instrumentals with enough hook and bite that the X-Games tabbed them for a theme tune. And although that bite may be softer on this release, it's only because they back up far enough to let their talented vocalists share some of the spotlight, a move that pays off the majority of the tracks.

Especially on the tracks sung is Spanish -- a language in which the band members prefer to communicate during most of their live shows -- such as Maverick's frontman Raul Malo's emotional cover of Los Bravos' "Black is Black." Or the two tracks featuring the Straitjackets' current touring counterpart, Big Sandy -- a rousing paraphrase of Freddy Cannon's "Tallahassee Lassie" ("Chica Alborotada") and a swaying translation of Ernie Doe's "Mother In Law" ("La Suegra"). Sandy's vocal acrobatics fit nicely with the Straitjackets' jamming guitars and frantic drumming in "Chica Alborotada," a song that'll stick in your head for a while. But it is El Vez's Latino distillation of the King that kicks the Straitjacket's instrumentalism up a notch in Elvis Presley's pounding, "King Creole" ("Rey Criollo").

Los Straitjackets' Latino revisionist spins on these standards is just one of many twists and turns that the band has to offer, which is part and parcel of their appeal. Aside from the stellar musical ability of guitarist Danny Amis -- from legendary New York outfit, the Raybeats -- guitarist Eddie Angel, bassist Pete Curry -- from Cali surf heroes, the Halibuts -- and drummer Jimmy Lester, the Straitjackets' have an engaging sense of humor and performative energy that drives their songs into the pleasure centers of your brain. When you close your eyes and imagine these tunes being played by a rollicking quartet of masked spark plugs that banter back and forth in Spanish -- especially when they're fronted by Elvis Presley's talented, Mexican doppelganger -- well, it's hard not to grin and feel the love they bring.

Even on the beautiful melancholy of Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World", capably delivered by Sixpence None the Richer's Leigh Nash. A sad tune to begin with, it tugs a bit harder at the heartstrings if you turn down the volume on CNN, croon along, and watch as the contexts change before your eyes and ears. Nash's rendition is backed with an emotional string arrangement recalling Katherine Whalen's gorgeously sad "Low Down Man" from the Squirrel Nut Zippers Perennial Favorites -- try putting them back to back on your next compilation tape or disc.

But ultimately, it is the pounding guitar work of Amis and Lester that keeps the joint jumping on "Sing Along With Los Straitjackets." Tracks like "A Heuvo"-- featuring surf vets, The Trashmen -- and "Treat Her Right -- featuring Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders -- will have you stomping your foot and in the mood to head out to the pounding surf and submit to its will. And both tracks will stick out in your musical memory, as well, especially if you are familiar with the Straitjackets' work -- "A Huevo" is a dead ringer for LSJ's "Caveman," featuring howls instead of grunts, and "Treat Her Right" has an intro riff that sounds like it was lifted straight off of The Kink's "You Really Got Me."

But it's all fun in the sun, to paraphrase ex-Blasters and ex-X(!) guitarist Dave Alvin, who feels the surf vibe on a cover of the Rivieras' "Caifornia Sun." Just take a look at the deranged face of one Straitjacket as he places the mike for two of his contributors on pictures featured in the disc sleeve, or another as he takes to the P.A. with a hammer. These guys aren't interested in breaking radically new ground or turning in a cynical posture with their covers a la Limp Bizkit's lame rendition of George Michael's "Faith." They just want to have a good time. And they want you to have one, too.

Considering all that America has been through and is going through right now, some old-fashioned but updated Americana from a group of Mexican wrestlers/surf music fiends from the heart of Nashville might just put a little bounce in your step if your foot feels like lead these days. You just gotta let it.

Scott Thill -- a media fanatic/Cal grad who finds the time to write on everything that does not include the words "boy band" -- is a gainfully employed dotcom editor currently finishing his first novel, The Dangerous Perhaps.