History Music / PendulumBand

[[AC:Pendulum Members:]]

[[AC: Former members:]]

[[AC: Discography:]]

* AwesomeAussie: Although some of the bandmates now reside in the UK, they were all born and raised in Perth.

* DreamTeam: They have worked with several other bands, more emblematically [[Music/TheProdigy Liam Howlett]], Music/InFlames and Music/StevenWilson. Their remix of "Voodoo People" is considered to be even better than the original Prodigy track.

* BadassBookworm: Rob Swire. As well as providing all the vocals and synths on their two most recent albums, he also produced ''and'' wrote them, and [[http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/pendulum.htm this]] interview shows just how complex a task that was.
** Also remember that their live shows run their instruments through 13 computers, giving a sound very close to that on their records, but with nothing pre-recorded.

* EasterEgg: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-q0anRDGto This video]] of famed music producer Music/{{deadmau5}}; if you look closely at 26 seconds... Yes, that guy peeking in the crowd near deadmau5... That's Rob Swire.
** It helps the fact that he made the vocals for the vocal edit of "Ghosts n' Stuff".

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Prelude" into "Slam" on ''Hold Your Colour''.

** One that went unnoticed by the censors in "Visions":

** And two more in "The Tempest":

** And in "Showdown":

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Encoder" is essentially one big long lyrical one of these. Rob Swire tweeted that it was about leaving unworthy friends behind.

* SelfBackingVocalist: Rob sings all of the harmonies and countermelodies as well as the lead melody; sometimes it's mixed as such that it's barely noticeable. Averted live, however - Gareth and Ben provide backing vocals instead.

* SlasherSmile: Rob will occasionally try to make an effort to seem pleasant in interviews and fan photos, but it often comes off as this instead.

* {{Bishonen}}: [[http://possiblechops.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/KJ-Sawka.jpg Kevin Sawka]]. Also Rob Swire.

* DreamTeam: They have worked with several other bands, more emblematically Music/TheProdigy and Music/InFlames.
** Their remix of "Voodoo People" is considered to be even better than the original.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Hold Your Colour'' is far more traditionally-produced as an electronic album with a sound leaning towards "electronic that happens to have guitars", while ''In Silico'' and ''Immersion'' were recorded and produced as ensemble albums and lean more towards electrorock.

* TheStoic: Everyone tends to be this in press shots, but Rob really takes it UpToEleven, looking the scariest out of all of them and having a nearly unchanging (and/or [[TranquilFury seemingly angry]]) stoic expression while performing.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Song tropes]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Encoder" is essentially one big long lyrical one of these. Rob Swire tweeted that it was about leaving unworthy friends behind.
** "The Tempest" is also a very, very angry one. Oddly enough, both "The Tempest" and "Encoder" are the closers for their respective albums.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Misc tropes (videos and other stuff)]]
* AnimatedMusicVideo: The music videos for "Nothing for Free" and "Louder Than Words" are both at least in-part animated; the former focuses on a civilisation of rabbits dealing with a myxomatosis plague - which parallels the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic; the latter focuses on Bob and Gary, a cat and mouse duo a la ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' and their careers between their breakup and their reunion.
* AwesomeAussie: Although some of the bandmates now reside in the UK, they were all born and raised in Perth.
* BadassBookworm: Rob Swire. As well as providing all the vocals and synths on their two most recent albums, he also produced ''and'' wrote them, and [[http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/pendulum.htm this]] interview shows just how complex a task that was.
** Also remember that their live shows run their instruments through 13 computers, giving a sound very close to that on their records, but with nothing pre-recorded.
* {{Bishonen}}: [[http://possiblechops.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/KJ-Sawka.jpg Kevin Sawka]]. Also Rob Swire.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: Constantly invoked with the band's official photos.
* ClusterFBomb: In contrast to their music's leaning toward PrecisionFStrike, ''everyone'' curses like crazy in interviews or on social media. Rob Swire and Gareth [=McGrillen=] in particular are walking {{Cluster FBomb}}s online.
* CreatorCameo: Rob and Gareth show up momentarily in the music video for "Slam", back when Pendulum was just a production duo instead of a band.
* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: The video for "Slam" has a man in a suit dancing to the song on the sidewalk...with his shirt off, and his tie wrapped around his head.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Peredur ap Gwynedd appears on the track "Girl in the Fire" from Hold Your Colour, a year before he joined the band as their guitarist.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Hold Your Colour'' is far more traditionally-produced as an electronic album with a sound leaning towards "electronic that happens to have guitars", while ''In Silico'' and ''Immersion'' were recorded and produced as ensemble albums and lean more towards electrorock.
* EasterEgg: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-q0anRDGto This video]] of famed music producer Music/{{deadmau5}}; if you look closely at 26 seconds... Yes, that guy peeking in the crowd near deadmau5... That's Rob Swire.
** It helps the fact that he made the vocals for the vocal edit of "Ghosts n' Stuff".
%%* [[AerithandBob Gareth and Rob]]
* HesBack: After four years of performing as Music/KnifeParty, Rob and Gareth came back to perform as Pendulum at a festival. Paul's [[https://instagram.com/p/6suU36C-vo/?taken-by=elhornet photo of Rob DJing]] very much invokes this trope. In 2020 they eventually dropped ''Driver/Nothing For Free'', their first single since 2011.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Rob and Gareth, majorly. To the point of Gareth misconstruing a question about the two of them being married as being married ''to each other''.
* KubrickStare: Rob is doing a pretty impressive one in [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkuehiBr7A1qho8hko1_500.jpg this press pic]].
* LargeHam: Ben "Verse" Mount and Gareth in particular, but ''everyone'' ([[TheStoic except Rob]]) is hamming it up during live performances.
* LeadBassist: Gareth [=McGrillen=], of the "co-creator" type.
* MetalScream: Used quite a lot in ''In Silico'', especially in "Showdown".
* RealMenWearPink: Rob Swire has a [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/c503b262d83da0a1c5e5e7fc8e3de223/tumblr_mrwhnhhn4W1r318rho1_500.png very]] [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/e4c9f4213d93557a18c6536b54ba9e21/tumblr_mp1olfYlSQ1r318rho1_500.png vocal]] [[http://media.tumblr.com/ef13d77e4b110d0bc15f882b7907ee1a/tumblr_inline_mltsznDqy51qz4rgp.png love]] [[http://media.tumblr.com/84f643973cca209b71ed2dd1a6040fed/tumblr_inline_mltt28wXnK1qz4rgp.png for cooking]], and Rob, Gareth, and Paul all love to post pics of their adorable cats.
* RenaissanceMan: Among being credited for writing and production on ''all'' songs and vocals on most, Rob can be found credited on various songs on all three albums in roles such as guitar, bass guitar, and percussion. He also happened to help produce {{Music/Rihanna}}'s song Rude Boy.
* {{Sampling}}:
** "Through the Loop" samples from the tunnel scene of ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory''.
** "Fasten Your Seatbelt" derives its name from a sampled Doctor Octopus line in ''Film/SpiderMan2'' ("Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts") which plays before the drops, and also opens with the sounds of Ock's reactor turning on.
* ShrinkingViolet: Rob's eternal [[TheStoic stoic expression]] during press photos and concerts is greatly contrasted by just how completely [[TheQuietOne quiet]] and shy he seems in interviews. Unless he's the sole subject, Gareth is generally the one doing the talking for him.
* SlasherSmile: Rob will occasionally try to make an effort to seem pleasant in interviews and fan photos, but it often comes off as this instead.
** Special mention to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyhRXJjpBsU this interview]], in which it's fairly obvious that Rob is smiling while wanting to throttle (or perhaps brutally murder) the host.
--> '''Commenter''': "That's rob wishing he owned a gun during the acapella"
* StageNames: Ben "Verse" Mount, and Rob Swire... The latter's actual name is Rob Swire ''Thompson'', which makes it an inversion of an {{Embarrassing Middle Name}}.
* TheStoic: Everyone tends to be this in press shots, but Rob really takes it UpToEleven, looking the scariest out of all of them and having a nearly unchanging (and/or [[TranquilFury seemingly angry]]) stoic expression while performing.

[[/folder]]

* AwesomeAussie: Totally an awesome bunch of Aussies.

* RenaissanceMan: Among being credited for writing and production on ''all'' songs and vocals on most, Rob can be found credited on various songs on all three albums in roles such as guitar, bass guitar, and percussion. He also happened to help produce {{Music/Rihanna}}'s song [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent Rude Boy]].

''In Silico'' (2008) marked the beginning of their [[NewSoundAlbum experimentation with their new formula]], [[GenreBusting crossing DnB with conventional rock instrumentation]] to the tune of [[BrokenBase serious backlash]] from their fanbase. The further integration of styles on ''Immersion'' (2010) pacified most of this and offered greater crossover than ever before.

Swire announced the indefinite dissolution of Pendulum on his Twitter in June of 2012, claiming that it had become more work than fun. In the meantime, he and [=McGrillen=] began work on another {{dubstep}} and electro house project which you may know as Music/KnifeParty.

** Before the drops throughout "Fasten Your Seatbelt", a sampled Doctor Octopus line from ''Film/SpiderMan2'' provides something of a TitleDrop ("Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts").

[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Peredur ap Gwynedd, KJ Sawka, Rob Swire, Gareth [=McGrillen=], Paul Harding.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pendulum_4074.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Like them or not, few deny Pendulum are [[RuleOfCool cool]].]]

* BadassBeard: Rob Swire's got quite a cool goatee, while Paul has one of the manliest beards to ever exist in electronic music.

* SiameseTwinSongs: The first two tracks on ''Hold Your Colour'', "Prelude" and "Slam". [[FadingIntoTheNextSong "Prelude" transitions into "Slam" perfectly]], and "Slam" reuses bits of the main sample of ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' utilized in "Prelude".

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Their stuff in ''In Silico'' crosses level 6 territory.
** Their hardest guitar-based song yet, "Self vs Self" from the album ''Immersion'', is a solid 8.
** ''Hold Your Colour'' is a solid 5 and ''Immersion'' is an hard 7-soft 8.
*** On Immersion: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FTRXx3DXpM Set Me on Fire]]" is a soft 9, being Pendulum's first foray into [[{{Dubstep}} brostep]].

At the time, Harding was a veteran DJ while Swire and [=McGrillen=] were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a rave, they were inspired to enter into the [=DnB=] genre. In 2003, the band relocated to the United Kingdom, where they put out their first official releases, culminating in their debut album, ''Hold Your Colour'', which was a widespread critical success and saw some of the biggest sales the [=DnB=] genre has seen to this day. It's now said [[GenreTurningPoint to have changed the face of the genre]].

-->--'''The famous opening lyrics of "Blood Sugar"[[note]]Specifically the 2005 Essential Mix version[[/note]]'''

* HesBack: After four years of performing as {{Knife Party}}, Rob and Gareth came back to perform as Pendulum at a festival. Paul's [[https://instagram.com/p/6suU36C-vo/?taken-by=elhornet photo of Rob DJing]] very much invokes this trope. In 2020 they eventually dropped ''Driver/Nothing For Free'', their first single since 2011.

In September 2020, the band's Twitter [[https://twitter.com/Pendulum/status/1301584879977672705 teased]] a new album and eventually released [[https://twitter.com/Pendulum/status/1305538956604461058 two singles]], their first new music in a decade. They released another single, "Come Alive", in April 2021.

->''Ladies and gentlemen, we understand that you have come tonight to bear witness to the sound of [[DrumAndBass drum and bass]]. [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope We regret to announce that this is not the case,]] as instead, we come tonight to bring you the sonic recreation of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to [[AlbumTitleDrop hold your color]].\\

It's drum and bass. What you gonna do?]]''

Pendulum are an Australian-British DrumAndBass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth [=McGrillen=], and Paul Harding. At the time, Harding was a veteran DJ while Swire and [=McGrillen=] were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a rave, they were inspired to enter into the drum-and-bass genre.

In 2003, the band relocated to the United Kingdom, where they put out their first official releases, culminating in their debut album, ''Hold Your Colour'', which was a widespread critical success and saw some of the biggest sales the [=DnB=] genre has seen to this day. It's now said [[GenreTurningPoint to have changed the face of the genre]].

* 2018 - ''The Reworks''

* HesBack: After four years of performing as {{Knife Party}}, Rob and Gareth came back to perform as Pendulum at a festival. Paul's [[https://instagram.com/p/6suU36C-vo/?taken-by=elhornet photo of Rob DJing]] very much invokes this trope.

[[caption-width-right:350: Like them or not, few deny Pendulum are [[RuleOfCool Cool]].]]

->''"I think we're very lucky it's 2010. If it were any other time, audiences wouldn't respond as well as they do now."''
-->-- '''Rob Swire'''

Pendulum are an Australian-British DrumAndBass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth [=McGrillen=], and Paul Harding. Harding was a veteran DJ while Swire and [=McGrillen=] were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a rave, they were inspired to enter into the drum-and-bass genre.

In 2003 the band relocated to the United Kingdom. What followed was an album, ''Hold Your Colour'', that was said [[GenreTurningPoint to have changed the face of the genre]].

[[UpToEleven And then]] they got [[NewSoundAlbum inventive]].

''In Silico'' (2008) seemed to [[GenreBusting cross drum and bass with conventional rock instrumentation]], causing a [[BrokenBase serious backlash]] from their fanbase. The integration of styles on ''Immersion'' (2010) pacified most of this and offered greater crossover than ever before.

Very popular in Britain and Australia, but considered one hit wonders in the US with the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04QpInkz9so Propane Nightmares]]"

Unlike most drum and bass DJ acts, Pendulum are known to put on spectacular live shows, equally at home supporting Music/IronMaiden or playing DJ sets in underground clubs.

Unfortunately, Swire announced the indefinite dissolution of Pendulum on his Twitter in June of 2012, claiming that it had become more work than fun. In the mean time, Swire and Gareth [=McGrillen=] began work on another {{dubstep}} and electro house project which you may know as Music/KnifeParty.

On August 21, 2013, Swire [[https://twitter.com/rob_swire/status/370401244327579648 announced]] that Pendulum would "probably" release a new album in 2014. Little talk of a new album surfaced in subsequent years, but the band's live aspect returned in a show at [[https://youtu.be/EYMJizj3Qq8 ULTRA 2016]]. Beyond this, a [[https://twitter.com/Pendulum/status/969300800777449487 remix album]] was announced on March 1, 2018, eventually releasing on June 29 of that year.

On September 3, 2020, the band's twitter [[https://twitter.com/Pendulum/status/1301584879977672705 teased]] a new album, with [[https://twitter.com/Pendulum/status/1305538956604461058 two singles]] announced for September 17, 2020, their first new music in a decade.

** One that [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar went unnoticed by the censors]] in "Visions":

Not to be confused with [[Music/PendulumCreedenceClearwaterRevival the 1970 CCR album of the same name]].