The Deal: Band’s third album reinterprets uncredited songs by North America’s indigenous people.
The Good: To put it bluntly, the band could have pissed off a lot of people by recording a lot of culturally important music. Instead, for the most part, they kept most of the feelings and vibes intact (“Red Fox” is probably the exception), only modernizing through guitars and keyboards. Think of it as music from a powwow of the future. Singer Mike Patton (Faith No More) does well with the vocals, Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) doesn’t go overboard with his guitar work and John Stanier (Helmet, Battles) gives just the right amount of drumwork. It’s not the album you’d expect from these experimental rockers, but it’s a Native American musical album that avoids being cliché or stereotypical. It’s a tribute in fine form.
The Bad: It’s like Jimi Hendrix covering the Star Spangled Banner — you have to appreciate the music, but at the same time, it’s a piece of cultural history. Of course, Hendrix is a guitar god vs. the tragic story of Native Americans. “Song of Victory” is a little too Zappa instead of traditional.
The Verdict: A great effort to bring awareness to native cultures, but it’s also slightly painful to think of electrifying these simplistic, meaningful songs. It was only a matter of time before these songs disappeared, so, in a positive way, Tomahawk has done their part to make sure that doesn’t happen.
This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2007.
