Beelzebub, breakdowns and Björk: Inside Teen Mortgage’s debut album

As Washington, D.C. duo Teen Mortgage officially announce themselves with their 4/5-rated debut album Devil Ultrasonic Dream, frontman James Guile gives us the ultimate track-by-track guide to the record…

“We kick the album off with the title-track – the mission statement for the band and record. It’s about going against the white Christian nationalist and fascist agenda by utilising passion – love and hate – to manifest a better reality.”

“Björk inspired me to write this song. There was an interview where she talked about how American bands sound like cars, because that’s what the culture revolves around – fuzzy distorted guitar tones sound like motors. Also since the beginning of pop music there’s been songs about driving, riding, trucking or cruising, or about the car itself. I wanted to play into that with a Big Daddy Roth vibe.

“It made sense for it to also be a love song, but I wanted to do it in an interesting way. My girlfriend often refers to her close friends as ‘ride or die’ which became the chorus lyrics. We’re also big fans of Natural Born Killers and it made me think of a story about an outlaw breaking out of jail to find his girl to do heists and ride off into the sunset.”

“It’s basically a piss-take of hardcore and skate punk and the locals at my skate park. There’s a joke dual meaning, ripping on a skateboard and ripping joints.”

“This one is very plainly about the military industrial complex. I was inspired by John Lennon saying that [1971 classic single] Imagine was basically the communist manifesto and he ‘sugar-coated’ the melody and instrumental to get the message across. That was my aim with this song, to deliver a sugar-coated melody while I tell you about the war machine.”

“A love letter to my girlfriend and our shared love of horror movies. It’s about being possessed by a succubus and falling in love with them.”

“This one is about going to work hungover and being pissed-off at everything. It’s sludgy, slow, and spacey to paint the picture of that headspace.”

“The lyrics are inspired by the protest song I Don’t Want Your Millions, Mister [released in 1941 by The Almanac Singers]. It’s insane the way history repeats itself and a song from nearly 100 years ago can be so relevant again.”

“Another one about the powers that be and how they control people’s time and energy so that we have less of a chance of banding together to do something about inequality.”

“I wrote this about a mental breakdown right before I ghosted my job. My life felt compartmentalised into little boxes and it suffocated my energy and positivity. America is set up like little boxes – a hyper individualised culture centred around private property and designed to be as non-communal as possible.

“I wanted to musically explain the stream of consciousness of being frustrated and then relieved when I finally quit. It goes from that harsh bitter riff in the verse to a sweet major key in the chorus to illustrate that moment.”

“A crash-course on using occult alchemy during satanic rituals and weed induced psychosis to escape into the shadow realm.”

“This is a call-out to those of us who are too proud of our heritage to face the reality of the long lasting effects of western imperialism. Because their egos and identities are tied to their heritage, the brutal truth makes them feel personally attacked and slows progression to a more empathetic society.

“The song is asking to be honest with ourselves and our intentions as theocratic fascism continues to rise.”

Devil Ultrasonic Dream is out now via Roadrunner

Read this next:

• The 25 most anticipated rock and alternative albums for 2025
• Teen Mortgage: “As soon as you turn 18, you have to fight for your right to survive in the world by paying your way”
• The 20 greatest Smashing Pumpkins songs – ranked