Pendulum

Since striking its own multithread trajectory off of the early Nineties breakbeat hardcore sound, drum ‘n’ bass has swung back and forth in popular opinion. There have been times when its hyperkinetic breakbeats and penchant for speaker- and tweaker-punishing malevolence have been labeled too insular, and other times when its jump-up liquid funk has been considered too populist. So how appropriate that an Australian trio named Pendulum acts as a commercially embraced balance. Pendulum’s frothy, fulsome productions — exhibited on 2005’s Hold Your Colour full-length — pair bedrock-solid breaks with nu-skool squelch and rolling bass, synth stabs and wicked licks. Whether grounded in manic ragga or panicked rockin’, Pendulum counterbalances ruff rewinds with silky, orchestrated passages. Pendulum is “keepin’ it real” (and real interesting), in the best sense, for drum ‘n’ bass.