Tuatara

Rock history features few supergroups as unexpected or faintly absurd as Tuatara. The quartet united Peter Buck of R.E.M., Justin Harwood from Luna, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, and Skerik of Critters Buggin' when it formed in 1996. Its members sought to explore worldbeat, lounge-pop, and free jazz—territories their guitar-driven alternative rock projects had left untouched. Following a handful of West Coast performances in fall 1996, the band captured its first album, Breaking the Ethers, issued in April 1997. Trading with the Enemy arrived the next year, and several of its tracks later surfaced on film soundtracks. Four years passed before fresh material appeared; then, in spring 2002, Fast Horse Records released Cinemathique. The album leaned toward expansive, atmospheric textures and was supported by a brief U.S. tour. Two further Fast Horse titles followed: Loading Program in 2003 and East of the Sun in 2007.