Steal This Look: Jet Set Radio Future’s The Latch Brothers

This article is probably too late for this Halloween, but there is just 365 days until the next Halloween so you now have plenty of time to prepare!

Remember the Smilebit Xbox classic Jet Set Radio Future? Remember the wild music from The Latch Brothers? If you don’t know about the musical group, I wrote a retrospective article back in 2015 that is well worth a read. But if you want a quick refresher:

The Latch Brothers were an elephant, a lion and a rabbit in lab coats. Behind the scenes, and occasionally revealed in magazine articles from the time about the new artists joining JSRF‘s soundtrack, The Latch Brothers were Michael Diamond, Tick, and Wag. Michael “Mike D” Diamond (known in the group as “The Latchin’ Duke”) is the most well known of the trio, having been a founding member of the New York City hip hop group the Beastie Boys and co-founder of the record label Grand Royal.

Kenny “Tick” Salcido (known in the group as “Count Tickula”) was a Grand Royal employee, responsible for the label’s college field representatives which spread the word of the label’s music to college radio stations. Tick is cited as being the one who struck a recording deal with Smilebit shortly after Grand Royal folded in 2001. The third member, Chris “Wag” Wagner (known in the group as “Sir Poom A Lot”), was the bassist for the band Mary’s Danish and Mike Diamond’s brother-in-law. Together the three formed The Latch Brothers, dubbed a side project by Beastie Boys fans which involved remixing tracks from Grand Royal artists and creating original music for JSRF.

To satisfy my court ordered mandate of writing at least one Jet Set Radio article a year, I decided to cover the rubber masks the group wears and clue fans in to where they can buy them! Maybe next Halloween or at the next video game convention you and two friends can dress up as this obscure musical group!

Our first bit of nightmare fuel is the rubber elephant mask. While there are several latex elephant masks on the market, this one was quite easy to find using a Google image search. The mask is on the smaller side, with eye holes cut in front of the elephant’s painted on eyes and the trunk is small and upturned. It appears that no specific mask company is credited, so it is possible the mask’s mold is commonly used by several companies. I found both United States and European retailers selling the mask for around $30.

The bunny mask was a bit more difficult to source. From what I can tell from photos of the group, the mask is more of a plush or fabric mask with plastic eyes and mouth. It appears to be a Rubie’s Easter Bunny mask which is sold as a part of a body costume. The mask in Latch Brothers photos is in pretty rough shape and I’d imagine Rubie’s production methods improved over the years. So while a modern mask is pretty close to the original, it is possible back in the late 90s or early 2000s this mask was a little different. Still if you pick up a modern Rubie’s Easter Bunny mask and kick it around a bit you could probably match the disheveled look that the Latch Brothers went with. Better yet, hit eBay for the mask itself and you might find an older version.

Last up is the lion, and this one was the hardest to source. From what I can tell it is a vintage lion mask from Cesar. You might not know the Cesar company by name, but just searching “Cesar masks” online will unlock many Halloween memories of weird rubber masks you or your friends once owned or visits to drug stores during the Halloween season. It is possible that Cesar released this lion mask for decades, with different paint applications, and there could also exist knock off masks using the same mold. The Latch Brothers mask has the same raised eyebrows and nose, but appears a bit more orange than most Cesar lion masks I’ve seen. Still, it is the same mold and I’m sure nobody is going to judge you for not having the EXACT same paint application as the lion mask used by the Latch Brothers. The lion mask is on the pricer side, selling for between $50 and $60.

Lastly, you’ll need a lab coat, and you can find these all over the place online. The Latch Brothers lab coats appear to be on the cheap side, with white or clear plastic buttons. These will set you back about $20. As for the pants and shoes, just wear whatever you usually wear! The Latch Brothers wore khaki shorts or jeans and sneakers. For that finishing touch, you’ll need a pair of white fabric gloves which conveniently are sold in three packs for around $6. Oh! And don’t forget to put some pens in those lab coat chest pockets.

So in total, a Latch Brothers set of three costumes will set you back around $216 or around $72 a costume. So find two friends, hit up online shops and be ready for next Halloween because now you know how to dress as The Latch Brothers!

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