Nick Lowe Rassled by Los Straitjackets

While the highlight of the show was arguably Nick’s solo rendition of Elvis Costello’s “Alison,” it’s undeniable that Los Straitjackets did a fab job backing up (as well as playing separately from) Nick Lowe when their Quality Holiday Revue made its stop at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse in December 2015. Now after three holiday tours with the Jesus of Cool, they’ve got Basher’s songs down to a T, and to prove it they’re releasing a whole album of instrumental versions of some of Nick Lowe’s best loved material.

Due out May 19th on Yep Roc, What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets boasts 13 tracks, including “All Men Are Liars,” “Cruel to Be Kind,” “I Live on the Battlefield,” “Heart of the City” “Shake & Pop” and a host of others. The album features Lowe’s longstanding band member Geraint Watkins on keyboards, his 11-year-old son Royston Lowe making his recorded debut on keyboards, and Nick himself making a vocal cameo on an undisclosed track.

To support the album, in early summer the band is embarking on a tour not with Lowe but with another pop/rock icon, Marshall Crenshaw, doing both a set of their own and a set of collaborations, taking over for the Bottle Rockets, Crenshaw’s ever-reliable tour mates in recent years.