Released: 2013

Genres: IDM, Glitch Pop, Experimental Rock, Post-Rock

The Musiquarium’s Amok Review Score: 8 out of 10

Composed of Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s longtime producer), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.), and Mauro Refosco, and named after a song from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, Atoms for Peace’s debut Amok naturally feels like a sequel to that album, albeit with a slightly fuller sound.

Opening track Before Your Very Eyes… and Stuck Together Pieces have prominent basslines from Flea, but otherwise, his presence on the record feels minimal. Elsewhere, much of Amok just feels like a continuation of Thom Yorke’s debut, The Eraser, though all of the songs are quite good, with no clear standouts.

Amok is a solid project for Thom Yorke, though it often just feels like another solo record rather than the work of a supergroup. Still, its nice to hear a musician like Flea in something far more interesting than the yawn-inducing Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Nigel Godrich’s production is fantastic as usual.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Atoms for Peace on Discogs.

Back to the 2013 Album Guide or the Atoms for Peace Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard