Instrumental groups of the '50s and '60s used to regularly turn to movie and television themes for material, and
Los Straitjackets have taken this great tradition into the year 2019. Channel Surfing is a four-song EP from everyone's favorite masked, reverb-obsessed, vocalist-free combo where they tackle tunes associated with popular TV shows, and the lead-off track, "Game of Thrones," was cut as the finale of the HBO series was the talk of the entertainment media. As is their habit,
Los Straitjackets took the ominous melody and transformed it into a swingin' number that suggests the point where
the Ventures and
Dick Dale meet, and they enjoy similar results with "The Fishin' Hole" (better known as the signature tune for The Andy Griffith Show), "Ashokan Farewell" (which
Ken Burns used as the main theme for his PBS documentary series The Civil War), and a medley that mashes up music from Dancing with the Stars and Sex and the City. Taken together, the EP clocks in at a bit less than ten minutes, so this hardly qualifies as a major release from the group, but from a standpoint of quality, this certainly lives up to their usual standards. The guitar work from
Eddie Angel and Greg Townson tips its hat to artists they obviously love but with an imagination and wit that sets them apart, and bassist Pete Curry and drummer Chris Sprague are a rhythm section that seems incapable of taking a wrong step. Channel Surfing is a release best left to the most serious fans of
Los Straitjackets, given its brevity, but anyone who loves great instrumental rock with a keen surf influence will enjoy it while it lasts. Especially if they watch a lot of television. ~ Mark Deming