Amok

Supergroups are the worst.

First of all, catching your favourite artist experimenting with other musicians can feel a bit like they’re cheating on their band. Duos and duets are one thing, but forming a supergroup is different. They’re the orgy of collaborations.

Then there’s the question of chemistry.

Take Atoms for Peace. What business, exactly, does Thom Yorke have hanging out with Flea? Shouldn’t he be locked in a room with Johnny G all day, nutting out crazy 13/4 rhythms, and lotus-flowering until he can’t walk?

And Flea – what are you doing with all these synthesisers! Wait. You kept your shirt on the whole time? You’ve changed, man.

Luckily for these two, it turns out that Amok is actually pretty damn good.

It’s better than The Eraser, which is the album the two musicians got together to play in the first place, so there must be plenty of good vibes floating around. Maybe Flea should keep his shirt on more often.

But let’s just say it; it does sound a lot like Radiohead.

Depending on your allegiances, this is either totally cool or a predictable disappointment. Whether it’s cut, sliced or reversed, Yorke’s voice is just too distinctive to steer Amok away from the inevitable comparisons with that ‘other’ band of his.

There is uniqueness in this new project though, and it is found sandwiched between Yorke’s iconic vocals, in a finely crafted labyrinth of sweeping pads and ticking drum loops.

This is clearly a band that has bonded over a mutual love of electronica, and the production of Nigel Goodrich and the skills of Joey Waronker and Mauro Refusco keep the album sounding slick.

There’s plenty of interesting modulation going on, such as ‘Ingenue’s confined, submarine-like bass, the scrunched up 8-bit textures of the title track, and the pins-and-needles percussion of ‘Stuck Together Pieces’, where we finally get to hear some live bass playing from Flea.

Yorke’s melodies are overly brooding, as usual, but there are some surprisingly catchy moments, especially the chorus of ‘Judge, Jury and Executioner’ – easily the album’s strongest track.

As an extra-musical love affair –Amok is pacey, addictive, and pretty damn pleasurable. Even if the supergroup idea seems wrong at first, Atoms For Peace have churned out something far more organic than a one-night-stand, and there’s no reason to break it off just yet.

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