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In the late 1950s and early ‘60s instrumental rock’n’roll frequently shared the charts with vocal hits thanks to artists like Link Wray, Duane Eddy, Dick Dale and the Ventures. But the success of the Beatles and the subsequent British Invasion changed everything as vocal hits became the dominant form of rock.

Guitarist Eddie Angel loved the Beatles, like any kid growing up at that time, but what he loved even more were the records his sisters had from just a few years earlier. “The first things I ever learned on guitar were instrumentals”, Angel says. “‘Walk Don’t Run’ by the Ventures, I think was the first song I learned.”

Despite his love for instrumentals, Angel stuck to the rules, playing in bands where vocals were the main focus. By 1988, his band had moved to Nashville, signed with a major label, spent two years recording an album that was never released, and then was dropped by the label.

No Fun, Then Fire

“I was at a real crossroads,” Angel says. “I thought, wow, man, if this is the music business, I don’t want any part of this. This is not much fun.” He could have given up, but some encouragement from a friend led him to choosing a different path. “He had a world class record collection and listening to his records sort of lit the fire again in me – why I was doing this in the first place.”

Although Angel decided to stick with a career in music, it was going to be the music he really wanted to play. “My first instinct was to do an instrumental band,” Angel says. “I don’t know why. Because it made no sense, but that was my instinct.”

For the next six years, Angel was playing the music he loved – rockabilly, early sixties garage rock and most of all instrumentals – but making very little money. He says, “I remember some of my friends who were in the music business – their reaction was, ‘Poor Eddie, what are you thinking?’ They just thought I had no chance.”

The Sound and The Masks

In 1994, he formed the band, Los Straitjackets, with his friend and fellow guitarist Danny Amis. “We were fans of Mexican rock’n’roll bands of the sixties, like Los Teen Tops and Los Rhythm Rockers,” Angel says. “We loved the way that sounded.”

If being a rock’n’roll band from Nashville with a Spanish-sounding name that played music thirty years out of style was a longshot for success, the band’s “marketing plan” seemed to be the final nail in their coffin.

“I did know that we had to do something to keep people’s attention playing instrumentals,” Angel says. “Danny had this big box of Lucha Libre masks. We saw the masks, and we were like, ‘let’s put these on.’”

Los Straitjackets sampling the local cuisine

By then a revival of surf instrumentals was about to explode into the pop culture mainstream with the release of the movie Pulp Fiction. The movie featured Dick Dale’s original recording of “Miserlou” as its main theme and several other surf instrumentals from the early sixties.

“The timing was right,” Angel says. “Pulp Fiction had just come out, and all of a sudden there were surf instrumental bands in every city in America. We just hit the wave. And we didn’t know that, but it was just really good luck.”

For the past eighteen years, Los Straitjackets have revitalized rock instrumentals with gusto and humor, building a loyal fan base around the world. Dressed in identical black business suits and ties, with a unique colorful mask for each member, Los Straitjackets never speak on stage except in Spanish. They not only revived the rock instrumental but the basic idea that concerts should be a special “show.” Along the way, they also found time for unique collaborations with other artists, like the Grammy-nominated album they cut with Chicago bluesman Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater.

On The Red Carpet

“So, we go to the Grammys, and rented tuxedoes, and put our wrestling masks on and our Converse sneakers,” Angel says. “People were coming up to us, ‘Who are you guys?’ Pushing past Beyoncé to get to us — no, not really. That was a Cinderella moment to be at the Grammys with our masks on.”

Los Straitjackets at the 2007 Grammys Ceremony

Los Straitjackets’, new album, “Jet Set,” their first in three years, is a back to the basics platter of instrumental rock’n’roll with a sound and fury that celebrates their triumphs, especially the return of Danny Amis who has been battling cancer since 2010. For Eddie Angel, the secret of Los Straitjackets’ success comes down to one thing.

“There was never a master plan,” he says, “everything sort of happened organically. What I did do is follow my instincts, and it paid off, but it took a long time.” And for fans of Los Straitjackets, no additional words are required.