STUCK takes Deb and The Mentals into their most hard-hitting territory yet: six killer tracks, tense and direct, with hardcore pushed right to the front without losing the punk, grunge and alternative rock that have always been part of their sound.
These are short songs, but they hit hard. The guitars are thick, the drums start piling on the pressure from the first second, and there’s barely any room to breathe. The band themselves say hardcore and punk were always there, even if they had previously leaned more towards grunge, garage and punk rock. The shift came naturally, almost by accident, when Deb started pushing her voice into more aggressive territory.
And that voice is a huge part of what makes STUCK work. Déborah Babilônia has power, range and a natural rasp that never completely disappears, even in the cleaner moments. She can move from a shredded scream into a clear melody without sounding forced or losing any tension. The Brody Dalle comparison is hard to avoid, both in her tone and in the way she attacks certain lines, but Deb sounds more precise and less broken around the edges.
At its most intense, the EP sits firmly in contemporary hardcore territory: short, dry riffs, a bass that stays right in your face and drums made to get bodies moving. Think more GEL or Scowl than classic punk rock. But STUCK has more going on than just speed and impact.
As the record moves on, the sound opens up. The guitars get heavier, some progressions become wider, certain ideas keep circling back and building in strength, and hardcore starts brushing up against melodic punk, post-hardcore and raw hard rock. You can hear flashes of Bad Religion in some of the melodies, L7 in the weight of the guitars and White Lung in that electric tension that keeps coming and going.
The good thing is that none of that makes the EP feel scattered. It stays tense, tight and physical from beginning to end. Some songs come straight at you, while others let the pressure build more slowly, but there’s no real breather anywhere.
The lyrics match that mood perfectly. STUCK is about anxiety, exhaustion, frustration, fear, bottled-up anger and the feeling of having the same thoughts looping around your head over and over again. The band don’t try to soften any of it. They turn it into music, moving between chaotic, aggressive moments and others where the tension loosens just enough to let the next hit land harder. The writing is just as direct: broken boundaries, failed communication, time moving too fast, pride, hatred, emotional wear and the need to take back control.
STUCK is short, but it never feels slight. The production hits hard, the songs have real personality, and Deb and The Mentals push into heavier territory without losing what makes them sound like themselves. Deb finishes the job with a voice full of power, grit and nervous energy.
There’s no need to reinvent hardcore when you can make it sound this alive.
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