Pendulum's new single, "Propane", has begun to make the rounds on our Internet, and boy is it an ear-opener. I earnestly hope it elicits the healthy controversy it deserves, because it feels to me like stale drum 'n' bass has gotten a serious kick on the ass — and as a young genre, is another step closer to moving out of its parents' house.

I'll disclaim my favoritism for Pendulum being one of my fave bands, being one of the few to successfully fuse ballsy rock theatrics and song structure with the aggressive, distorted thrashabout of DnB. With good reason, they've transcended their studio trappings to succeed live onstage, and if you haven't watched their performances on YouTube, I heartily encourage you to.

"Granite" led a sci-fi depth charge towards the possible spectrum of sound which awaits us in Pendulum's forthcoming 2008 album. Following up from the unduplicated critical & commercial success of Hold Your Colour, I'm excited to hear what the whole work will sound like. Drum 'n' bass albums tend to fare poorly and essentially be not much more than a loosely-knit collection of singles, so I was pleased with HYC's driving momentum, which captured my attention throughout.

I listened to a ripped live rendition of "Propane" with less-than-decent sound quality — and I await the radio version for full judgment — but its potential shone through nevertheless. It all begins with a surprising pseudo-mariachi horn section and jangly guitar chording that'd fit in Muse's "Knights of Cydonia". The lyrical content is even reminiscent of that hit, with Rob Swire imploring us to "wonder what we've gotten ourselves into". I couldn't make out some of the lyrics, but a ska-punky, frenetic beat kicks in @ 0:44, building yet another bridge from rock to electronic music.

Not too long from that mark, 1:06 introduces a very horn-y riff which recalls both James Bond soundtracks and the Powerpuff Girls theme; more of the former than the latter. Forecasting many changes yet to follow, 1:28 varies the beat with an almost-goosestep metronomicity, vocals soaring over an arrangement well-suited for a action movie's climatic fight scene. There's a line that sounds like "bring it on home", the main riff blares through the mix, and new guitar support arrives @ 2:34.

(Before I go on, one reason why I like "Propane" so much is that recurring elements are underpinned with a strong foundation of tonal changes. It doesn't get boring, and grabs you by the neck and pulls you along for the whole ride. A woeful amount of DnB is mistakenly content to take a brilliant idea and repeat it ad nauseum, but Pendulum introduces their brilliant ideas, brings them back later, bonds them with new instruments joining in — it's not the most esoteric thing to do, but this is where the group's ability to span styles and figuratively flip the bird to technosnobbery shines. And oh, does it ever!)

At this point, I'm headbanging, wishing I had the full lyrics transcribed, but delighted to hear the tempo cut half-speed @ 2:56. This section of the song sounds like a majestic ballad that could be on any Top 40 hits radio station. It's just that versatile. Imagine my continued joy when @ 3:18, a nasal, almost pipe organ dirge arpeggiates itself onwards & upwards, bringing to mind memories of fighting Dracula in the Castlevania series. Almost all too quickly, this passes too, leaving Swire's voice naked with guitar strumming @ 3:40. This passage reminds me of lonesome folk music where there are no editing tricks, just a singer and their guitar giving their heart to the audience —

but that too passes, as the full-force beat pounds in 4:02, with Swire confidently intoning that "in the end, we will be one". Another instrumental section which I could see AMVs of Final Fantasy characters mapped to follows, combining a retrospective video game charm with matured fury. And then, to the truncated end, "BRING IT ON HOOOOME!" with the half-speed beat again.

If the rest of Pendulum's soon-coming album is as good or better than "Granite" and "Propane", we're in for a remarkable treat. Hype here is irrelevant and so are empty promises of the work being "revolutionary", but from what I've heard from them so far, Pendulum have been pretty consistent about maintaining quality while experimenting — even when "experimenting" is merely taking popular rock idioms spanning decades and grafting them to 170 BPM pounding ahead.

There's a lesson to be learned in all this: amidst a sea of idealogical inbreeding, the most refreshing thing to do is the obvious.