Hyper Crush at El Corazon

Story By Brooklyn Benjestorf

Photos by Blush Photo

Despite the recent success of LA based electro-pop/hip-hop group, Hyper Crush, the scene at El Corazon last Tuesday night wasn’t that much different than the last time the band played the venue this summer. Barely pubescent faces amassed in front of the stage, cheering each time a strobe or black light was tested. A neon rainbow of adorable barely legal babes prancing around in American Apparel’s latest arrivals interjected a youthful 80s vibe into a venue usually crowded with beer-soaked fantasy metal fans. Girls fully adorned with light stick jewelry were grinding each other like besties at a high school dance.  Although the energy level was positively electric with the vigor of die-hard fans, there surprisingly wasn’t a trace of a growing Seattle fan-base.

Hyper Crush’s beat-master extraordinaire, Preston Moronie, began hyping the crowd by pumping his open palm over a sea of oversexed eighteen year olds like an electro-pop puppet master. The house lights went out and we all knew it was really on when Preston called out to the crowd, “What the fuck is up, Seattle?!”  The devilishly handsome Donny Fontaine and vivacious vixen, Holly Valentine, took the stage to the thunderous roar of wound up teenagers, hopped up on soda and Pop Rocks.

Opening up with “Boom Box,” Holly paid the first testament to the group’s amazing ability to play off the audience by fist bumping a front row fan to the beat.  As the group moved on to “She’s a Freak,” a song immortalized by the Hills’ Audrina when she wore the band’s tank top during an episode of the show earlier this year, Preston popped a grill on his upper teeth to make things extra fresh. Shredding on the keytar atop a black box center stage, fans worshiped Preston like some sort of electro-rock messiah. Dropping it like it’s hot to the tune of the groups 50’s themed “Candy Store,” Holly tore her shirt off perfectly on cue to Donny’s command, “Go ‘head girl, take it off.”

Working their newest song , “Pop Lock Remix,”  into the set list, the tune proved to be much better live than on the recording (heard exclusively on the band’s MySpace profile).  Preston got up-close and personal with the fans, stage diving into the thick of the madness. Working the stripper theme a little more during, “Sex & Drugs” Holly pole-danced with a cement column on stage like a professional. Using the intro to Europe’s ubiquitous “The Final Countdown” as a lead-in, “Robo Tech.” had Preston masterfully multitasking by ripping it up on the keytar while performing some space-age mind control on unsuspecting fans with a futuristic laser glove. Closing out with Hyper Crush’s popular single, “The Arcade,” it was a perfectly executed set of dance tunes, emblazed by neon lights and a little bit of magic.

With hooks to kill and beats that just don’t stop, the under attendance of the Hyper Crush show was simply criminal. Seattle is missing out on the genius that is Hyper Crush! With a brand new record deal with Universal, we can expect to hear much more from them in the near future. Check www.myspace.com/hypercrush or www.hypercrush.com for tour dates and the latest info on this incredible dance band.