The NeoPixel Punk Console turned out to be a very sensitive apparatus.

If you let it just sit with a cool effect dialed in, within a few minutes the LEDs will slowly drift back into flashing chaos. I suspect that some of the low-value resistors are heating up, and being sourced from a Chinese 5% SMD assortment their temperature coefficients are probably terrible, which will ruin any harmony.

There are also configurations where the LEDs behave somewhat.. hesitant?

My theory is, that as some LEDs wander on and off the strip the current draw changes, which makes the supply voltage raise or drop, which influences the oscillator timings.