Keith Secola & Wild Band Of Indians – Fingermonkey

Anishinabe Native American rocker Keith Secola has been compared both to Neil Young (for his affecting, high-pitched vocals) and Bruce Springsteen (for his free-ranging, character-driven songs). Given his Arizona residency and the fact that his stylistic trademark is “artful synthesis,” a comparison to Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb wouldn’t be off-base either.

Secola first made his mark in 1982 with the Rez-centric Indian rock anthem “NDN Kars” and went on to forge a diverse songwriting career marked equally by lyrical tenderness (“Fry Bread”, an ode to home cooking), activism (the Peltier tribute “Innocent Man”) and surreal humor (“ND Waza Bat”, which imagined Andy of Mayberry as a vampire).

On his latest album, his seventh since ’85, Secola again blends classic rock, folk and blues with traditional Indian motifs, then lets his songs veer as circumstances dictate. One standout is “Wailing Blues”, a down ‘n’ dirty twelve-bar grind that pits Secola’s existential moan against the massed Indian chanting of his bandmates. Another is “Snake Handler,” which contains an irresistible Tom Petty groove, its sunny Beach Boys harmonies contrasting with the venomous subject matter and a biting lead guitar. Secola also updates both “NDN Kars” and “Innocent Man”, renaming the former “Millennium Kars” and adding a subtle electronic edge, while overhauling the latter from a folk-rock ballad into a full-on ska/reggae stomper.