The Hellp, a Los Angeles electro hyperpunk duo made up of Noah Dillon and Chandler Lucy, dressed in tight leather jackets, short-long, greasy hair and Oakley shades, looked like they were about to front a sleazy Oasis or a Julian Casablancas tribute as they pranced onto the main Fizz Stage. Although one of them manned the synth and sampler while sporting a Blink 182 T-shirt while the other leaned on the microphone stand and twisted a few nobs on his vocal effects pedal, letting out a chaotic “WOOOO.”
The Hellp’s stage presence was one of indie sleeze indifference, like they were too cool to be there, and it works for them. As they lay into some hazy hyper pop punk (kind of in the same vein as Suicide, but from Gen Z), the crowd loses their collective shit. I loved how Lucy consistently popped cigarettes into his mouth while messing with the sampler and forgetting to light it. They only played for an hour, but he must have smoked three, as the clouds of smoke dissipated under the fog machines. The one song I recognized was “Colorado,” an absolute catchy banger live with its slacker rock guitar sample, and they played it half way.
Later on in the set, they dove into a newer one, which I believe was called “Riviera” (noted by the orange backdrop and the word in Helvetica) twice. The first time apparently was off time, and Dillon wasn’t going to have that. I have a friend who loves The Hellp and plays the latest album, LL, quite frequently, and it’s good, but until seeing them live, I never really understood the main appeal. Now I can say I, too, am “feeling Colorado.”
