Eddie Angel's Guitar Party

Los Straitjackets' guitarist Eddie Angel's solo outing offers an acceptably authentic homage to greasy instrumental 1950s rock & roll, largely though not wholly comprised of original material. Angel's biggest influence is the scratchy, distorted guitar of Link Wray, but there's also some grinding R&B roadhouse in the saxophone of Morrissey sideman Boz Boorer. Floating around in the mix are echoes of the surf era ("Kawanga") and tinges of exotica sleaze ("Casbah") and horror movie soundtrack creepiness. For all that, it doesn't have the menace or innovation of those old Link Wray records, though it has a heartfelt sense of fun. It's also hard to imagine any surf or instrumental rock band titling one of its songs "Topless Beach," as one of these tracks is named.