The last "Authentic" (and) cool band on earth
A victory lap for The Hellp, cementing their status as authentic prophets of the electroclash resurgence of the mid-2020s.
In an article published by The Face magazine in March of this year, The Hellp was called "the last cool band on earth". Adorned in long white tank tops, tight leather jackets, and black skinny jeans, The Hellp enters the stage of a club that can fit about 200 people on the floor. The red and white lights flood the back of the club and front of the stage respectively as the floor becomes a mud-slush from the outside rain trailing into the building. It was at this moment that I felt it—the superstardom of the last cool band on earth. As the Hellp began running through their set, each song was built upon in parts. From the snare to the synth to the vocals, all are layered upon each other in that moment. You could tell this was more than music for Noah and Chandler, it was about the authenticity of this lifestyle, it was about the passion of what they had to say in their music.
This is what LL is all about. It's a victory lap in The Hellp's signature style while staying true to their roots. While there are songs on this album that date back to 2018, everything on this album feels fresh. Standout tracks like "Go Somewhere", "Rllynice", "Colorado", "Caustic", and "Ether" all play into this idea of high-energy electroclash that can be found on Vol. 1 or "Meant2be". While it's nice to have that same style, I appreciate the fact that they've done something similar to Vol. 1 where they show different sides of their range, especially on tracks like "LL", "Halo", and "9_21".
While this album isn't perfect, it deserves recognition. Not because the production or lyrics can bring someone to tears, but because it's authentic. While this album may not have such highlights as "Tu Tu Neurotic" or "Ssx" as Vol. 1, the less frenetic and more careful approach to this collection of songs shows that The Hellp was less reckless (and possibly too careful) when selecting songs for this project in a way that reflects their maturity for the standard audience. While the average person would probably like the highlights from Vol. 1, culturally we aren't close enough for the more experimental side from Vol. 1. Even though The Hellp does seem pretentious for claiming that they would be the ones to give birth to a new cultural wave if everyone understood their music, they aren't wrong. Only time will tell if artists like Snow Strippers and 2hollis can bring the mainstream internet side to try The Hellp and give LL a listen.