A revitalization of anger, protest and punk

Chicago-based Stress Positions has a new album that is audibly ambitious in disputing understandings of culture and truth. Released May 16, 2025, it is incinerating and burns down to the bone with its moral clarity. Listeners must understand its historical context first. With a focus on the inhumane cruelty of the 1904 Saint Louis World’s Fair, where Filipino people were displayed in a human zoo exhibition, Stress Positions aim their musical hostility towards colonialism. This target not only includes the past, however, as the band also covers current political controversy that the band unveils as continuous corruption with the progress of the album. It is as much educational as it is a protest, and the Stress Positions will not back down anytime soon in their revolt for justice. 

Track one, “Sadistic Digital,” is an outcry of turbulent emotion. The song’s tumultuous tune immediately drives full throttle with an opening scream from lead vocalist Stephanie Brooks. Her vocals are raspy, and her lyrics are hard to distinguish from the speedy rate at which she speaks, but there is one particularly clear line: “The choice is ours.” This is at least one idea that listeners should take away and transform into a question to be answered in the following songs. What is that choice? It’s unclear, but it must be something sinister based on the inimical rhythm. 

The title track, “Human Zoo,” balances history and anger as it recounts the tragic events of the 1904 Saint Louis World’s Fair. It is the reason for the album, with its confrontation of the incident’s hidden history and its application to modern political exploitation today. The song strikes a personal note for Brooks, who is Filipino herself, which integrates a softer but still strong layer of advocacy into the abrasive rhythmic mix. As she screams, “Louder in English / Louder in French,” Brooks sneers at imperialist involvement and the immense effort to cover its tracks. Featured in the album are two remixes of this song, offering a sonic interpretation of this specific adversity. 

Track seven, “Kaddish Digital,” is an interlude filled with news clippings and individual monologues discussing the present conflict affecting Gaza and highlighting how the new generation of Palestinians refuses to remain complicit in violence and exploitation. Surrounded by chanting, soft percussion and a steady but haunting tune, this musical collage culminates into one voice which speaks: “Every life is a human life and every human is you.” This break in the album exemplifies how the destructive imperialism that Stress Positions detests has perpetuated into modern times.

Stress Positions proposes strong views with harsh melodies and electric guitar chords that pound into the rhythm. Between their lyrics and sound, there is no space for second thoughts regarding revolution. Their musical composition is loaded with a considerable amount of D-beat and hardcore, but the most punk thing about them is their fierce force for change that has yet to be reckoned with.