Crystal Method feels like family

Ask Ken Jordan what comes to mind when he thinks of his hometown from back in the day, and he lets out an impish, semiguilty little chuckle.

"I think a lot about the Crazy Horse Too," the Las Vegas native and one-half of electronica duo The Crystal Method says with a laugh. "I remember this place that I used to DJ at on Thursdays, the Sports Pub. It's where I taught Scott (Kirkland) how to DJ."

Though The Crystal Method formed in Los Angeles, their story begins here, and is part of the well-told lore of the local music scene, starting with Jordan's tenure at UNLV's radio station.

"I was running KUNV, and there were a couple of local bands that asked me to come into the studio because they liked my taste in music and they thought I might have some kind of input," Jordan recalls from a hotel room in Savannah, Ga., while on tour. "From the first moment I went into the studio, I was like, 'Oh man, this is what I've got to do. I want to produce and engineer.' "

Later, Jordan and Kirkland relocated to L.A. and dropped their platinum debut, "Vegas," in 1997 as The Crystal Method became the American face of the then-burgeoning electronica movement. The two took the music to a whole new audience, playing in front of rock fans in theaters and arenas more than dance die-hards in nightclubs.

The electronica acts that have toured America -- The Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers, Underworld -- generally have played a handful of gigs in the five to 10 biggest markets, but The Crystal Method made a name for themselves by hitting places that acts of their ilk had seldom if ever played before.

"I don't know if there are rave scenes in Boise, Idaho, or not, but some of our best shows are like a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday in smaller markets," Jordan says. "These people come out, and they're like, 'Oh wow, we never get these kind of shows.' That's our bread and butter."

As such, they've become one of electronica's signature gateway acts, and a decade and a half later, they're still at it, having just released what may be their finest disc yet, the by turns sultry and overblown "Divided By Night." Perhaps the duo's most vocal-centric, song-oriented record, "Night" boasts a wide range of guests, from Metric frontwoman Emily Haines to reggae favorite Matisyahu to former Grandaddy singer Jason Lytle.

The disc has gotten off to a good start, debuting at No. 1 on Amazon.com and No. 10 on iTunes the first day of release. On Friday at the House of Blues, The Crystal Method will bring their first concert tour in five years to town. If they're greeted like family here, well, it's because they are.

"My younger brother's there," Jordan says. "I've got a lot of cousins and Scott's mom is still there. His younger brother is there. So we definitely see all the old friends whenever we come in. We still love playing Vegas."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.