Like the lucha libre wrestlers who inspired it, Nashville’s Los Straitjackets has launched a high-flying comeback after being dealt a paralyzing blow that would have pinned lesser bands.
With co-founding guitarist Danny Amis (aka Daddy-O Grande) on the road to recovery from cancer, those masked marvels of instrumental rock have delivered one of the most diverse and polished albums in their 18-year career. Jet Set, released Tuesday on Yep Roc Records, is the band’s lucky 13th studio album and perhaps its best ever. Guitarist and co-founder Eddie Angel has been quoted as saying: “I think it’s remarkable that this far into our career, we could do something I’d consider our best work.”
Amis was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, in mid-2010. “It took me out of commission for two years, even put me in a wheelchair for a while, but once I started recovering I began writing new songs like crazy and was able to record with the band again,” Amis says in a press release for Jet Set. “The godfather of Mexican surf” underwent a successful stem cell transplant in 2011, and he’s been pronounced well enough to play select dates on the band’s upcoming tour. It’s great to see Amis – one of surf rock’s longtime practitioners (he started with the Raybeats in 1980-82) – back in action.
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