Pendulum

Formed in Perth in 2002, but relocated to the U.K. a year later, Aussie transplant drum-and-bass outfit Pendulum has made a sweet science of uniting rock and rave — adrenalizing beats and screaming guitars have rarely combined to produce such a fierce degree of mass appeal, as 2008 single "Propane Nightmares" proves in spades: its arena-spanning and dreamily melodic rock build-up gives way to sections of thudding techno so propulsive that resistance is utterly futile. A 2005 remix of the Prodigy's "Voodoo People" (live version from Brixton Academy included here) hinted at the band's headspace without fully preparing us for future marvels like "Blood Sugar" (the band's final release for Breakbeat Kaos) and "Watercolour" from 2010's Immersion, a track that expertly aligns the core components of Rob Swire's emotive vocals, furious bpm and precisely embedded hooks.