It’s not panic but fluster as I try to avoid cliché in the aftermath of Hyper’s album ‘The Panic’. I am just an admonishing slap of the hand away from a calorie overload on empty carbs such as ‘Don’t believe the Hyper’. However this quotidian phrase has allusive associations with Public Enemy’s ‘Don’t’ Believe the Hype’, which has all the anger and rebellion, metaphorically and sonically that The Panic should but does not. It’s not panic but a mild tizzy that I’m experiencing having these diametric opposites share the same paragraph.

What am I supposed to be panicked about exactly? For a moment that starts with ‘The End’, I don’t get a sense of discomfort, fear, doom or a horseshoe’s worth of apocalypse. The shouty exclamation of the heavily reverbed vocal on a leafy salad bed of quasi frenetic electronic rock is the sort of thing used on television shows like ‘Entourage’ when they’re trying to create a sense of edginess; but we all know it’s going to come good in the end?!

Where Public Enemy used sirens and breakbeats to convey the collage of the senses that is New York, as well as describe a sense of political urgency, the use of industrial synths and breakbeats on ‘My World’ serve only as a backdrop for bad rappers. Genesis Elijah and Dread MC have grand monikers but seem to have been inspired by one too many sips of Grand Marnier. They are indistinguishable, and the repetitive hook barely intelligible. Dubstep enters part way but without the bass desolation and hardness to give it bite.

And the breakbeats go on and on. They really do. Apart from ‘Are You Ready’ which has a real headiness and challenge – a sort of Prodigy lite, this release typifies Rave culture; designed to be heard at an unsubtle decibel range in enclosed spaces and under the influence. Beyond the rave, its lack of depth and real expression are exposed by sober ears. The Panic is nothing to get het up about.