Los Straitjackets

In this shocking exclusive, GW takes you behind the glitter masks of the surfin', riffin', fast-pickin' instrumental combo

- BY GREGORY ADAMS

AFTER SPENDING THE past several years backing power pop-smith Nick Lowe, the Luchador-masked instrumentalists Los Straitjackets have surfed back to the fore with Somos Los Straitjackets, their first non-collaborative full-length release since 2012. The new album, however, sports a few songs that will be familiar to the outfit's keenest fans.

"High Wire Act," for instance, originally featured on Los Straitjackets guitarist Greg "Gregario" Townson's 2022 solo release, Beyond the Horizon, as a clean-picked bossa nova before Los Straitjackets reworked it with uproarious, motorboat-rudder Dick Dale-isms. The cocktail-jazzing "Two Steps Ahead" appeared earlier this year on another Townson record,