Surely one of the strangest Nashville musical outfits ever, the Mexican-mask-wearing Los Straitjackets have been wowing audiences with their musical virtuosity and carnival-barker weirdness for more than a decade. This time around, in support of their latest release, Rock En Español Vol. 1, they’re traveling with the leader of Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys, who will handle all the vocals as the Straits power through a veritable compendium of hits from Mexican radio in the ’60s. Selections on this tasty project range from “Hey, Lupe” (Los Rockin’ Devils’ version of the hit “Hang on Sloopy”) to a Mexican version of “Wild Thing” retitled “Loco te Patina el Coco” (rough translation: “Crazy Person, Your Mind Is Slipping”). In between, Los Straitjackets will play covers of such classics as Arthur Alexander’s “Ana” and a mean version of Little Richard’s “Bonie Maronie.” Let the rock and roll extravaganza begin.
This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2007.