I have grown to become weary whenever the term ?supergroup??a band composed of musicians who have achieved fame through their own respective bands?is thrown around in today?s music scene. What makes a band successful is the chemistry that exists between all of its members culminating into a cohesive and unique sound. This is not often the case for most supergroups, many of which end up sounding like imitations of the bands from which their parts are derived. However, sometimes the parts are pieced together just right, and something truly novel is created. Atoms for Peace, an electronic ?supergroup? consisting of Thom Yorke (Radiohead vocalist), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist), Joey Waronker (Beck/R.E.M. drummer), Mauro Refosco, and Nigel Godrich (Radiohead producer) seems to have achieved just this on their debut album ?Amok.??Amok,? released Feb. 25, stands on its own as a singular piece of work. Of course the influences of each member of the group can be heard throughout the nine tracks, but each song as a product is wholly unique. The second single from the album, ?Judge, Jury and Executioner,? gives you a good idea of what the band has achieved. Percussive handclaps coupled with a simple yet catchy bass line in alternating measures of 4/4 and 3/4 create an undeniably dance-inducing groove. At various points throughout the song, the entire rhythm section drops, and the listener is left suspended in Yorke?s hypnotizing falsetto. ?Ingenue? is another track that stands out. The intro features two distinct synth riffs, one high and one low, which seem to call and answer one another. Percussive accents fall like raindrops over an understated yet driving drumbeat. One of the catchiest songs on the album is ?Stuck Together Pieces.? Flea immediately grabs a hold of the listener with an aggressive bass riff that holds like a heartbeat throughout the entire track, save for the end where it is abruptly removed, and synthesizers pour over a muted and spacey guitar line.My favorite track from the album is the opener, ?Before Your Very Eyes.? The song opens with a frantic guitar riff and fast-paced cymbal work. Yorke enters shortly after with soothing, drawn-out vocals, for a significant contrast with the instrumentation. About halfway through, the guitar part gets pulled and is replaced by a choppy, but bouncy, synth line. As the song draws to its conclusion, Yorke?s vocals come through like distant sirens in the background, creating a haunting echo effect and adding another dimension of aural evolution to the track. For me, it is this level of musical progression that makes the album so outstanding. You can hear each member of the group working outside of their comfort zones as musicians, yet still producing incredibly layered tracks that display all of the subtleties and nuances that only these artists can provide. With ?Amok,? it?s easy to say that Atoms for Peace has moved past the ?supergroup? label and its traditional trappings to something much cleaner: a great band.