Rays of pink colored the crowd of a hundred punks filling Austin’s Empire Control Room last Monday night. Vocalist Chaney Elaine’s magenta shag cut glowed like a halo around her head – An emo renaissance painting brought to life on stage.
House Parties opened for Can’t Swim and Belmont, maxed out on energetic pop punk. Through piercing vocals, Wesley Jones’ relentless drums and Spencer Trinidad’s guitar licks dripping in punk ivory, the Dallas-based group brought everyone cozy in the alcoves of the bar out onto the dance floor. Halfway through their cross-country tour, Elaine described the band’s current psyche the morning after their Tampa stop.
“The most we’ve ever been on tour has been two weeks,” she said. “But now we’re past the two week mark, and we’re so exhausted. We’re so tired, but in a good way.”
Anthem “Collateral” kicked off the 30 minute set. The stage presence of “Tiny Rooms” radiated energy meant for a bigger one. The vocals really started to shine through here, every lyric belted out so consistently beautiful it felt anxiety inducing:
Will she drop the pitch? Not a chance.
Even though she grew up singing in choir, Elaine recounted how she found the right voice for her music.
“When I discovered Paramore in middle school, my friend had shown me, and she was like, ‘I’m going to change your life. And she was correct!"
"I saw what Hayley was doing and I was like, oh my god. I want to be just like her," said Elaine. "And then the years went by and I discovered PVRIS and Stand Atlantic, a lot more female-fronted bands that did more rasp. That’s kind of what I wanted to do. And it’s just been like that ever since.”
This emo trifecta, which began releasing as a fully-fledged project in 2021, never had anything other than pop punk in mind when it came to their sound. Despite a failed project between Elaine and Trinidad prior to this hardcore powerhouse, they never lost that vision.
“We’ve always been pop punk and alternative emo music,” said Elaine.
“I grew up listening to Paramore, We Are The In Crowd, My Chemical Romance. It was never a phase [laughs]."
Elaine introduced their newest release and third song of the night “Braindead” with a flash of blue light and a request. “Can you guys sing it back to me?” The audience started the song off alone, singing “you’re so braindead, you’re so braindead!”
“I wanted us to have a very energetic song from start to finish,” Elaine said about the single. “It’s just a dumb anthem about knowing someone who’s dumb.”
At the end of this number, Elaine ordered the crowd to get down, down, down on the ground. Everyone got low and listened for that perfect moment to spring up. Total control of the room.
“Get a Grip,” followed as a more emotional track, with the drums slowing and the focus shifted onto the vocals. This trend continued for the next song, the live debut of an unreleased emotional ballad titled “Waterworks.” An Austin specialty, Elaine’s vocals peaked during this song with a variety of high-notes she never missed, despite being halfway through a punk rock set.
“Cautious” dared us to keep up, as the drum and guitar picked up their tempo after every verse/chorus pair.
“Midlife Crisis” closed out the night with a crash of cymbals and booming guitar, and the words “Pushing 25 and I need guidance / Feels like my midlife crisis,” officially snatched the throne of emo royalty for House Parties.
Chaney’s parting words to the permanent outsiders?
“Screw the haters,” she proclaimed. “Who cares! They're irrelevant. Do what makes you happy. Don’t give in to their hate. It doesn't matter in the long run.”
During their cover of Linkin Park’s “Given Up,” Elaine sent the crowd into chaos as she successfully completed Chester Bennington’s 17-second long scream during the bridge.
“Midlife Crisis” closed out the night with a crash of cymbals and booming guitar, and the words “Pushing 25 and I need guidance / Feels like my midlife crisis,” officially snatched the throne of emo royalty for House Parties.