3 out of 5

Label: The Ghost is Clear Records

Produced by: Alex Bhore (engineered and mixed by)

Solid hardcore punk from the Dallas, Texas scene – which is not a scene I was aware of, but if Stress Palace exist there, that’s enough of a scene for me.

At first blush, beyond a good performance, there’s maybe not much to differentiate SP from a fair amount of similar acts. They’re not too mathy or the fastest; vocalist “Mike” has a good howl and shout to deliver legible lyrics; and the 9-song set of their debut shuffles through some meaty, bass-driven hooks with a steady, pounding drums. Their music exists somewhere on an axis between the Who-tickled guitar rock of Call Me Lightning and the minimalist stomp of Young Widows, but funneled through label The Ghost Is Clear’s penchant for grungey, thrashy punk, i.e. I’m describing more of a Midwest hardcore sound; what SP bring to that, though, is both a literal and more generalized clarity: there’s a lot of relatively clean playing and riffing here, though played heavy, and while the volume is up, all the singing and instrumentation is clear. Less directly, the subject matter and song construction feel focused, and complex enough but unflashy. There’s a charm to that that moves past some of the underlining malaise of Midwest hardcore, and gives Stress Palace’s debut a very immediate vibe.

Still, there’s a vibe you kind of come around to. There aren’t necessarily a lot of distinct hooks here, and it still mimics a hardcore rock sound you’ve heard. Lyrically, I’m back and forth: there are some great one-liners, but also sometimes where I feel like Mike (if he wrote the lyrics) is just playing with phrasing, though it might not actually make sense. However, I called out the subject matter: the impassioned takedowns of culture (and some self-criticism heavily mixed in) are crystal clear and can be felt, whether or not the words speak to it most eloquently.

This is a really compelling start. SP are willing to “play the hits,” as it were, with a casual glow-up added that, I imagine, can / will only become more notable with time.