Pendulum: 'Propane Nightmares'

Have Aussie drum & bass stars Pendulum gone soft on us? Their new single not only features vocals from what appears to be a whiny indie boy, but also includes a Spanish trumpet intro that could have been nicked from a Stella Artois advert. Could the beat merchants who scored a massive dancefloor smash with the uncompromising volcanic squelch of 'Slam' really have settled down with their pipe and slippers to make meat and potatoes rock?

Thankfully, the ambush of fizzing synths and tub-thumping whacks one minute in dispels fears that the band are going all Coldplay on us. If only they could disguise the track's odd mixture of styles too. The placid, meaningless vocals sound like they were added by mistake in the studio, while the brooding breakdowns are like something from a cheap Count Dracula hammer horror flick. The fast, noisy bits are still good enough to keep our pulses racing, but their infrequency means this track never really takes flight.