With influences from big beat and industrial electronic sounds, this UK band leaves you with a diverse sound. Formed in 1996, they created two studio albums, but their legend lives on in their remixes for bands from the late 90s such as Bush and Curve. I personally found them through the Matrix trilogy soundtracks and was further interested after finding their songs played on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel television shows. Their music is so energetic, and I often like to listen to them when working out because it gives me a natural pump of adrenaline. “Leave You Far Behind” and “Roll the Dice” are their most noteworthy songs.

The Dictators were a heavy band. They combined heavy metal, garage rock, and junk food culture in the early 1970’s creating a template for punk, especially the Ramones. Their songs were offensive and loud with titles such as “Master Race Rock” and “Teengenerate” sung by, “secret weapon”, Handsome Dick Manitoba, though Adny Shernoff sung most of the early songs. The Dictators were one of the first bands, besides the aforementioned Ramones, to be the smart-guys-playing-dumb, and, like the Ramones, were mostly all Jewish. In 2001 the Dictators declared, “I wish Sgt. Pepper never taught the band to play” when they reunited for “D.F.F.D.”. Remember – “Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.”

Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass band that formed in 2002. Since then, they have had three studio albums, and are most noted for their song “Witchcraft”. Unlike many drum and bass artists, they include many lyrics in their music, guitars, and a few slower songs. I feel it’s a good introduction to those who have never witnessed the awesomeness of the drum and bass sound.