Los Luchadores De Surf: The Cultural & Musical Mashup That Is Los Straitjackets

Los Straitjackets co-founder Danny “Daddy-O Grande” Amis has a longstanding affinity for Mexican culture in all of its forms, so it was no surprise when “The Godfather Of Mexican Surf Music” showed up to a practice with a box of luchador wrestling masks he’d bought on a trip to Mexico and suggested the band members try them out at a gig.

The band marked its 30th anniversary this year and the masks haven’t come off since, even though Amis has long departed.

“At that time, it was just sort of good fun,” says co-founder Eddie Angel, a noted rockabilly guitarist himself who was already recording for CBS Records at the time he joined what was then called Straitjackets.

“And the next thing you know, we’re in the studio, recording, and it was good. Fortunately, ‘Pulp Fiction’ came out and all of a sudden everybody’s into surf music,” Angel continues. “No pun intended, but we caught a wave. So we put a record out and started touring like in ’94, ’95.”

But just as Los Straitjackets doesn’t really have much to do with lucha libre, it’s also not strictly a surf band. Its tight musicianship enables the quartet’s cultural influences to fly all over the map and its music – including an album recorded with blues master Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, Rock ‘N’ Roll City in 2003 – reflects that.

They scored hits with Christmas music, too, including 2002’s ’Tis The Season For Los Straitjackets! and 2009’s Yuletide Beat, and were featured artists for several years on Conan O’Brien’s annual Christmas specials.

By then, Los Straitjackets were being managed by Jake Guarlnick of 2 Jakes Management, who also reps artists including John Doe, The Jayhawks and Nick Lowe.

“I thought maybe we could team up with another artist who has a Christmas record and put together some kind of a show,” Guarlnick says. “I called Nick up and I said, ‘This may be completely ridiculous, but I think it might work because it’s for a Christmas show – it won’t be that weird to have a band with wrestling masks behind you.’ And he kind of liked the idea.”

Lowe, known for songs including “Cruel To Be Kind” and “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love And Understanding,” which was a hit for his friend Elvis Costello, agreed to a Christmas tour with the guys in the Mexican wrestling masks, starting a collaboration with Los Straitjackets that continues to this day.

“We did a Christmas tour and the chemistry just clicked,” Angel says. “It says a lot about Nick that he was willing to go do this with us. His reputation is such that he had a lot to lose. We had nothing to lose!”

Pollstar Boxoffice records of Los Straitjackets with Nick Lowe go back to the holiday season in 2015, and they’ve continued a pattern ever since, reuniting for joint tours in between their own headlining outings. Recently, itineraries have teamed Lowe and Los Straitjackets with Elvis Costello as well, including at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles June 16, 2023, where they sold 5,586 tickets and grossed $406,794. Two sold-out nights at the Beacon Theatre in New York City July 12-13 moved 5,485 tickets and grossed $464,447.

They’ve teamed up again to release Lowe’s first studio album in 12 years, Indoor Safari, a rockabilly-infused romp that will be followed with more touring; Los Straitjackets and Lowe will team up for on Lowe’s UK home turf for five shows before returning stateside Oct. 10-11 at New York’s Bowery Ballroom with stops including World Café Live in Philadelphia; Brighton Music Hall in Boston and Lincoln Hall in Chicago.

Los Straitjackets brings its affinity for Mexican rock and wrestling culture together with Christmas music, British singer-songwriters, American surf rock and rockabilly into a musical melting pot of its own, all the while respecting all of its roots.

“The first time we went to Mexico City in about 2000, I was a little nervous about how they were going to react,” Angel says of the potentially cultural-appropriating appearance. “Were they going to be offended or what? But they loved it! As it turned out, this was probably the first time an American band was borrowing from their culture. They love la lucha, and wrestling is a big part of their culture. I thought that was kind of cool.”