Los Straitjackets "Damas y Caballeros!" 2001

Finally, a live CD from the incredible Los Straitjackets, recorded at the legendary Foothill Club. In top form, this marvelous masked band romps in top form through their own classics and some grand covers as well. Tight, rock solid performances, excellent sound, and high energy, all through the sense of humor that permeates their live shows. Some new tunes are introduced for the first time on disc as well. Lifer or inductee, this long overdue disc will surely make your instrumental day. A must have! - Phil Dirt

Excellent live cd by the best surf instrumentalists playing today. This album really cooks from beginning to end. The band is blessed with two great guitar players in Danny Amis, from the legendary New York band the Raybeats. And the very impressive Eddie Angel, who does double duty with the excellent roots rock band the Planet Rockers. Two musicians with many years playing experience, and it shows on this live set. The entire band is so entertaining to see live. Drummer Jimmy Lester is hilarious with his Spanish banter he does between each song. Also the stage antics of bass player Pete Curry, a very talented musician, songwriter himself, who used to lead the excellent Calif. surf band the Halibuts. For already converted Straitjacket fans, there are several songs here that have never appeared on any of their previous albums. Two Link Wray songs: "BRANDED", and a fantastic version of "RAWHIDE" which ends the album. "SQUAD CAR", a hot rod tune that Eddie and the Showmen did in the early 60's. "DRIVING GUITARS" which is an old Ventures tune. "LAST DATE" an instrumental by country legend Floyd Cramer. Great version! And what live surf set would be complete without the instrumental standard by Farina and Farina called "SLEEPWALK". My favorites though, are the songs they do from their first album "The Utterly Fantastic And Totally Unbelievable Sound of Los Straitjackets". This album is a surf classic that was produced by the one and only Ben Vaughn. Every surf fan should have this one. Songs included off this are "TAILSPIN", a killer version of "ITCHY CHICKEN", and my alltime favorite Jacket tune "LYNXTAIL", a cool tune that is a combination of Duane Eddy and Link Wray, with a few neat blues licks thrown in for good measure by Eddie Angel. Another favorite here is "MY HEART WILL GO ON" (LOVE THEME FROM THE TITANIC). Yeah, that's right, the Titanic theme. The way it's done here though, they make it sound like it should have been a surf song all along. It's stuff like this that really seperate this band from all the surf band pretenders out there. Live surf albums don't come along very often. And as it goes, this is the best one I've ever heard. This is a must-have for any fan of tasty surf music, and it comes highly recommended. Catch the wave and hang ten with the masked ones. You'll be glad you did. - By Patrick Earley (Edmond, Oklahoma USA)

trax:
01 Introduction of Los Straitjackets 02 Outta Gear 03 State Fair 04 Casbah 05 Calhoun Surf 06 Itchy Chicken 07 Last Date 08 Kawanga! 09 I'm Branded 10 My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic) 11 Squad Car 12 Rockula 13 Tempest 14 Lynxtail 15 Tailspin 16 Pacifica 17 Driving Guitars 18 Sing Sing Sing 19 Sleepwalk 20 Rawhide