In Silico

Album Review

What would happen in you crashed classic club rhythms into classic rock? Pendulum pick up the pieces on their sophomore album, but American debut, In Silico. It's a "Showdown" between late-'60s hard rock and raging techno beats on the set opener, as the band blast the arena with their big, bold sound. "The Tempest," which bookends the set, is filled with ominous clouds, while a metal rain splatters the grooves. Throughout this set Pendulum swings across the rock spectrum. The stomping "Mutiny," for example, clashes glam rock with classic rock — think "Radar Love" played by the Glitter Band. That could be a single; "Granite" already has been, its dizzy mix of slamming techno beats, incendiary synths, fiery guitar licks, and space rock effects shooting up the U.K. and Australian dance charts. "Granite" has a New Romantic tincture, a style that also tinges "The Other Side"'s funky/hard rock hybrid and "Different," a number that blends jungle beats with psychedelia and prog rock. The latter's rhythm is ripped straight out of Prodigy's hands, as is the one that supports "9000 Miles," where the band board the Caravan and travel from the Canterbury scene to the chill room. Prodigy aren't their only obvious influence, Moby gets his due too, as Pendulum tip their hats to his take on the "James Bond Theme" with the pomp-rocky "Propane Nightmares," another sizzling single. Yet it's the far more subtle "Visions" that's the band's epiphany, where they weave together a sewing box worth of threads from the '70s electronica scene into a sunny tapestry of sound. Long ago synths and guitars were both integral to the rock scene, eventually they parted company, then found themselves at odds. Pendulum is determined to heal that breach and bring the warring parties back together, looking to the past for support, while striding boldly into the future.