ATOMS FOR PEACE: AMOK

After releasing the brilliant and criminally underrated The Eraser in 2006, which largely consisted of music put together on his laptop, Yorke put together a band to tour this album. Longtime Radiohead producer and collaborator Nigel Godrich and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea were among those recruited. They managed to play for something like a year without a name; finally, Yorke christened them "Atoms for Peace," named after one of the tracks on The Eraser CD. While I wasn't able to catch any of their shows live, the stuff that I've managed to hear (via Youtube and other less reputable sources) are just amazing. As much as I love The Eraser, the live performances are arguably even better. Truly, at some point Yorke needs to release an official CD and DVD of their amazing performances.

What we get in the interim is this. Released under the moniker "Atoms for Peace" (no one is fooled, this is a Yorke album through and through, with, as usual, Godrich's considerable imput), Amok's recording history is rather interesting, and can be thought of as experimental: At some point a year or two a go, the "band" went into the studio and simply jammed for a few days. Yorke took the tapes home, and with his computer basically went to town on the recordings. So far, so good. Sounds like a great way to make an album. Miles Davis and his producer Teo Macero did something similar, and they came up with "Bitches Brew."

Unfortunately, unlike The Eraser, Amok simply doesn't have the tunes. I've been listening for a week now, and still there's nothing for me to grab on to, no melody I can hum, nothing I can sing along with, no lyrics that jump out, no melodies burning their way in. Sure it has its moments, - for example, the beginning of "Ingenue" and the end of "Reverse Running" are rather gorgeous-sounding - but overall the album isn't compelling, the songs don't seem to go anywhere, and lack the kind of urgency Yorke usually brings. I don't want to give the wrong impression: the album is amazing sonically. Often here though I get the feeling Yorke's voice is more a hindrance to the sound, and some of these tracks would sound better as instrumentals. (Perhaps I need to accept the album for what it is, rather than what it isn't, and when I stop resisting, I'll come to terms with it and appreciate it.)

After the rather disappointing King of Limbs from 2011, I had high hopes for this album. But that album is looking pretty good now, when set alongside this. Who knows, after time I might revise my opinion and look upon it more favorably. For now, however, it's highly underwhelming, and one of my biggest disappointments in recent memory from any band I can think of. I'll keep trying, because I'm convinced of Thom's genius, I *want* to love this album, and I know he has a lot of great work left in him.

This is an album which is very electronic and features many intricate and complex beats and textures. It seems that this was perhaps the purpose of creating the album; to have a bunch of songs which are sonically intriguing. If this was Atoms for Peace's purpose for this album, then they've succeeded. The songs are sonically interesting. But it is a lack of songwriting which is what makes this album flawed. Most of the tracks get boring after a couple of minutes because the same beats are played over and over again, and the vocals aren't often singing a discernible melody. Still, it's not a mess of an album, and it contains some standout tracks (Ingenue and Unless).

Before Your Very Eyes?: Features a dance beat, with an ostinato being repeated over the top. Thom's vocals are simple and dreamy, but they aren't what stands out; what stands out is the overall feeling and atmosphere of the song, which is quite dreamy while still having a beat underneath. As is the case with many of the other songs, you have trouble discerning what sounds come from a computer and what sounds come from an instrument. The track gets boring after a few minutes, and it doesn't work fantastically as an album opener. 4/10

Default: Opens sounding a bit like video game music, but quickly turns into an experimental electronica track. The vocals are more prominent in this song when compared to 'Before Your Very Eyes'. The textures underneath the vocals are almost all electronic sounds. There's some cool synth-sounding stuff, and complex beats. It's slightly more interesting than the first track. 5/10

Ingenue: Opens with strange sounding synth sounds, but is soon accompanied by a beat underneath and vocals. The feel to the song is quite dreamy. The main negative point is the fact that there's too much repetition and not enough change to keep interest. Still, it's an enjoyable song. 8/10

Dropped: Has a repetitive sounding beat. This is a song which finally has some different sections and changes things up. While this is the case, it's not a very interesting track. There are more mellow bits, and more intense and busy parts. I like that about the song, but unfortunately the music itself isn't very interesting. 6/10

Unless: One of the best tracks so far. The vocals and music feel quite urgent sounding, in a good way. The textures from the electronics are intriguing, and the backwards singing about halfway through is actually pulled off pretty well. 8/10

Stuck Together Pieces: The bass ostinato is mildly interesting at the beginning, but it's not really enough to keep interest. The acoustic guitar that starts about halfway through adds interest but sounds a bit wrong. Like the other tracks, it gets boring towards the end because the same things are repeated over and over. 4/10

Judge, Jury and Executioner: The textures within this track are quite enjoyable. The overall feeling of the track is nice, but isn't a very captivating track in terms of songwriting. The acoustic guitar works much better here than on 'Stuck Together Pieces'. The Radiohead song that has the same title as this song is a better song than this one. 6/10

Reverse Running: The electronic beats that open this song are complex and intricate, and are odd and uneasy. Electric guitar on this song adds another texture to the beats and vocals. I don't really have much to say about this song; it's a fairly bland track with some intriguing beats. 3.5/10

Amok: It opens sounding like it could be one of the few good tracks on the album, with more complex beats continuing from the start until about 1:30 through, when some quiet and processed vocals join. Quite an atmospheric song. It suffers from the same problem that most of the other songs suffer from, which is that it doesn't really go anywhere but just repeats itself. Actually works pretty well as an album closer though. 6/10

Positives about the album: The complexity of the electronics, the intriguing textures Negatives about the album: The songs aren't very interesting and don't have much change.

Average: 5.6/10 = 3/5