On Friday, March 27, The Hellp returned to New York on tour with their newest album, “Riviera.” The indie electronic duo packed the house at Brooklyn Steel with young fans decked out in their edgiest adornments. The venue, with its wide floor and a balcony above for those not interested in head- bashing, was the perfect setting for the mosh pit that ensued. The duo effectively hypnotized the crowd into a state of constant jumping, appreciating the music and the new record, as they kept randomly echoing the word “Riviera” over the microphone.
The Hellp consists of Noah Dillon and Chandler Ransom Lucy who reside in Los Angeles where they also started the band. Dillon, originally from Colorado, does the vocals while Lucy does both electronic production and effects. The duo gained attention and scooped up dedicated fans on SoundCloud, which is where some of their most popular songs, such as “Ssx” and “Tu Tu Neurotic,” were first released. After sharing tracks on SoundCloud for five years, their first formal EP, “Enemy,” was released in 2021. They arrived in the indie-rock-electronic world at just the right time in 2016. The indie sleaze genre of the 2000s, which was spearheaded by bands such as Crystal Castles and Justice, has had a resurgence in the romanticization of all things vintage. In the early 2020s, this genre experienced a major explosion, expanding its popularity among a greater reach of listeners. The Hellp’s official music release in 2021 happened alongside similar artists such as 2hollis, Snow Strippers and Bassvictim who all joined the bandwagon in the early 2020s.
Most of these artists’ discographies sound very similar to me—full of chaotic, reverberating and sharp electronic tones. However, one thing that sets each artist apart is the vocals they lay over this distinctive production style. The Hellp is unique in this sense, with Dillon’s assertive yet squeaky voice bellowing quickly delivered lyrics. Dillon’s vocal contributions build up the sense of adrenaline associated with the band’s music by creating a rushed and exhilarating feeling among the chaos of electronic tones.
This skill is heavily exercised on “Riviera.” In a yearning romanticization of the Los Angeles sprawl and the sense of Americana associated with Los Angeles culture, “Riviera” paints a picture, marked with the classic 2016 Instagram filter. The second track on the album, “Country Road,” sings, “Country road, take me home / But this ain’t West Virginia / This is LA, I’m on Sunset.” Additionally, the duo folds in the harmful influence that a tech and profit-driven world has had on their adulthood; songs like “Modern Man,” “New Wave America” and “Meridian” all touch on this issue. The tastefully rushed sound of the album echoes this sentiment about the current, fast-paced state of the world. The album beats out the Pitchfork—a coveted music review publication known for its tough ranking system—scores for any of the duo’s discography and has had fans obsessed since its release in November 2025. Dillon and Lucy had been teasing their release by dropping several singles throughout September and October. These singles caught flame with the help of catchy riffs that could go viral in the background of TikTok videos: The single, “Here I Am,” did just that, grabbing the attention of a wide audience.
The concert brought new life to “Riviera” and selected old songs the band decided to feature. Everything sounded richer and louder, intoxicating the crowd with adrenaline. The colored strobe lights, mid-show confetti and background visuals all contributed to the thrilling environment. These random, humorous visuals kept the intense music feeling lighthearted, displaying baby goats, President Xi Jinping of China and a blue-hued mountainscape. The setting was so bewildering that people were constantly holding their phones in the air, recording as much of the concert as possible. Groups of people kept opening up the crowd to create an empty space that would be filled by violent moshers, squeezing the surrounding members of the crowd against each other like sardines. Hair was flung in faces. Sweat dripped from everyone’s bodies. I had a beer poured down my back. All eyes were on The Hellp the entire hour and a half that they played. The continuous roar of the crowd kept them going five minutes past the venue’s curfew, and when they finally finished off the set with their biggest hit “Ssx,” they came and sat on the edge of the stage, causing the crowd to somehow swarm in closer.
By the end of the show, my friend and I were only a few feet away from the barricade, having been shoved forward from the very back throughout the show. It was an epic performance. The Hellp should only be listened to in a live setting like this one, with the reek of sweat and the warm buzz of overheating, excited bodies crowded together.