Regarding: The Hellp
ABOUT THE WRITER
Griffin S. is a writer, visual artist and noise musician. You can probably find him manipulating samples, reading James Ellroy or Philip K. Dick. He lives in Los Angeles. He narrated the first audiobook of Georges Bataille’s The Story Of The Eye, which you can listen to now on here. His debut novella Jackal Dog is out now for you to download.
The Hellp are easily one of the most exciting contemporary bands. I had a chance to see them DJ a party recently, and they mostly spun their own music. An unapologetically rockstar and egotistical move that I find extremely refreshing.
At an event that seemed to bring together some of the coolest and most clouted people of LA, Noah Dillon and Chandler Ransom-Lucy were still probably the coolest in the room. They have a serious presence about them. The kind of guys you want to approach to talk about music or fashion with but also don't, because there is a good chance they will size you up and walk off to much cooler pastures. I respect the attitude, as not many newer artists or fans of alternative culture want to lean into the unabashed pretentiousness that makes musicians so cool. Letting people enjoy things has replaced the old guard of flaunting your taste and shitting on people with their apparent bad taste. The Hellp seems to embody the attitude which I feel is necessary to counteract anti-pretentious pretentiousness that has become the norm now.
The Hellp makes fantastic music. Let's just get that out of the way. It's catchy, noisy and unapologetic. However, what really draws me to the band is much deeper. I feel like The Hellp are perfect representatives of post-politics and the post-modern merging of high and low. They wear outfits that mix high end designer gear with the kinds of vintage trucker hats someone’s grandfather would proudly don while watering plants. They proclaim their love of pop country and pop punk while penning lyrics that are esoteric to say the least. They drape themselves in the American flag during live shows. They have a deep love for Americana that, to me at least, goes beyond surface level patriotism. It is the embodiment of post-political art. However, their love of extremely American art forms like pop punk/country, as well as their affinity for American iconography, speaks to this post-political juxtaposition. Their odes to suburban hijinks within the poetry of their cryptic lyrics makes a lot of sense largely in coastal SoCal towns whose only exports seem to be youthful boredom, weed and skate videos. This beauty makes The Hellp a current and great band.
The American flag is a very loaded symbol. It has a deep history and associations. The Hellp are not “reclaiming it” (how cringe does that sound right?) - instead, they present it on its own terms. Call it patriotism, or whatever you wish, but the band uses it as iconography that sums up to be one small part of their ethos. Their love of America seems innocent and casts off a lot of political baggage that may accompany such a symbol. By just presenting the flag in this context, they depoliticize the flag, adding it to the canon of otherwise youthful enthusiasm.
We have moved into an increasingly post-political world. The two major parties distract their voter base with stupid culture war memitics while they fund and applaud genocide. The extreme left occupies itself with niche identity politics to the point of ineffectiveness as does the far right. Symbols no longer matter if you think about them for more than five minutes. The Hellp's use of Americana in videos and live shows is a testament to this new age we inhabit where a symbol can be a representation of whatever one wishes it to be.
We must embrace this. We must embrace The Hellp.
You can listen to The Hellp, and watch their music videos on YouTube here.
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