- In the announcement for Mad Techno Invasion, Wallwork & RZR's 2014 debut EP, the London pair described themselves as "ghost producers for some of the UK's finest" who had yet to release material under their own names. That record framed them as artists equally enamored with noise and hulking bass, and proved they had reason to carve out their own identities. But the duo's follow-up feels like a regression, as Don't Panic heavily references Wallwork & RZR's contemporaries in both sound and name. Whether "Don't Panic," "Parrot Honey" and "Perc22" are intentionally aping Tessela's hardcore deconstructions and Perc's noise-techno doesn't matter much in light of their glaring similarities. To its credit, though, Don't Panic is the work of producers with a tremendous command of their craft.
Wallwork & RZR's three originals carry some intense bass weight and percussive bite. The myriad drum samples and noxious synth swells in "Perc22" help to offset Don't Panic's well-worn jungle tropes, even if "Parrot Honey" skews its breaks at a sharp enough angle to render them almost unrecognizable. "Don't Panic"'s most distinctive quality is the sub blasts underpinning each stuttered vocal sample—its pad melody during the breakdown is nice, but nonetheless ripped straight from the "Hackney Parrot" playbook. Deft's remix of the title track uses the material far more dynamically, unleashing a massive dubstep/drum & bass hybrid too restless for any single rhythm or trajectory. It's not ground-breaking, but you won't easily mistake it for the work of anyone else.
Tracklist01. Don't Panic
02. Parrot Honey
03. Perc22
04. Don't Panic (Deft Remix)