Amherst's Hadoken—a band comprised of six full-timers—finds it impossible to cite universal influences.

"Each member has drastically different musical tastes and background," says guitarist and trombonist William Theis. "We don't think in genres as much as concepts and ideas. We've written songs about ancient Hasidic curses, volcanic eruptions, dinosaurs, Japanese mythology, you name it. I guess the music flows through us; we just focus on letting it happen in whatever form it chooses to take."

Hadoken plays experimental, electro-acoustic rock: dense, complex build-ups and crashes filled with repetitive layers piled up like sonic waves. Formed at UMass, the band cycled through a number of players before settling on its current lineup: Theis, guitarists Eric Egavian and Matt Hopkins, bass player Steven Wendel, percussionist David Dur?n and Alex Wagner on electric violin.

"We found each other through online means," Theis says. "Craigslist, Facebook, MySpace—you name it, and we've found someone with it. I feel that no one is replaceable at this point; Hadoken's style and identity only exists as the combination of these six figures and no one else."

According to Theis, the group follows a truly collaborative approach: "We play through rough ideas over and over while each person tests out different ideas and sequences, often leading to new ideas which end up as the next part of a song. It's all about giving into a whole really, like playing in an orchestra where everyone writes their own parts and there's no conductor."

Begun less than two years ago, the band has already produced one full-length album and is currently working towards completing their second.

Hadoken plays Dynamite Records in Northampton at 6 p.m. on July 17. Check them out online at myspace.com/surgefist.