The Crystal Method

With the recent postponement of the Mekka Tour and the cancellation of the Las Vegas version of the U.K. Creamfields Festival, the electronic duo Crystal Method is relying heavily on its headlining tour to promote Tweekend, its latest album. To that end, beatsmiths Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland have lined up a formidable 50-stop tour in North America with the hope of making Tweekend as successful as their initial effort, Vegas, was four years ago. Following the fusion of techno, blinding breakbeats, and big-beat hip-hop that the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers made stylish in the mid-'90s, Vegas was America's answer to the energized electronic movement of the British Isles. Tweekend is an indistinct reproduction of that inaugural disc, building on the same electronic funk-rock feel, but without the novelty that made the duo's debut so edgy. The big difference this time around: The group has enlisted the help of a few friends, including Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, whose raucous guitar work figures heavily in three of the four tracks he co-produced. But even with other collaborations from the likes of Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, who adds vocals to the radio-friendly "Murder," as well as Beck's DJ Swamp and producer Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple), Tweekend sounds a lot like Vegas. Regardless of the exaggerated promotional effort for its tour, the Crystal Method isn't introducing anything remotely new -- or engaging, for that matter -- to an electronic movement that's progressed in the four years since the act released its debut.