“Don’t Fall For The Lies”: Teen Mortgage on Expressing the Frustration of Americans Today Through Metal Music
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The core of any punk/metal song is rage, and it has to come from somewhere. More likely than not the cause is systemic. We live in a time where our rage is as essential as our wallets, keys, and phone. We take it with us everywhere. Especially in the US where it seems the voices of the people are being drowned out by facism and greed more and more by the day. Teen Mortgage offers relief to those who can no longer hold in their frustration. Based in Washington D.C, the self-proclaimed surf punk duo, James (lead singer/guitarist) and Ed (drummer) are bringing back a simple yet layered version of metal music, mixing classic sounds with modern themes.
The two are heavily inspired by stoner metal music, namely The Melvins and I Hate God. “I wanted to do a two-piece the first time I saw Wavves playing with Zac Hill”, said James, who started the duo by looking for bandmates online shortly after moving to the US from Manchester. James and Ed have been playing together for almost 10 years, performing their first show together in January, 2017. James had songs written already that he wanted to play once he found his counterpart, but their sound took a different turn when Ed joined him.
“The more we played together, the more we vibed with heavy metal themes,”
James explained. They started out sounding “like straight garage rock, indie rock and then it just got heavier over time. We just naturally were wanting it to be more stoner metal and then we got to a point where people were like ‘this is hardcore’ and we were just like ‘okay’! (Laughs) If you say so!”
Outside of the band, James is heavily inspired by drum and bass, such as The Prodigy and Chasing Status. “It has more energy than a lot of rock bands. I aspire to have that same kind of energy that makes you want to get up and dance right now”. Ed’s taste is also diverse.
Teen Mortgage live at La Maroquinerie Paris
Image by Alessandra Berry for Noize Magazine
“ I spend a lot of time trying to absorb new bands. Especially if we’re going to go on tour with them…”
“… I've been listening to Scowl recently and Other stuff that’s more chill. Also listening to Spiritualize. They're fantastic psychedelic.”
What sets Teen Mortgage apart from other bands? “It’s just the way we do it, man," James joked. “We come from that garage, surf influence and typically the subject matter for that is, ‘we’re drinking beers and we’re having a good time’. (Our) lyrics are a bit more political and focused on the evils of the world. Maybe we make it more fun? Maybe that’s it.”
“We’re trying to say ‘hey be aware of the bullshit but fuck that bullshit let’s have a good time’.”
Something else that makes Teen Mortgage different is that they have no interest in keeping up with the Jones’ of music-making. The simplicity of their music is very intentional.
Teen Mortgage for Noize magazine
image by sixtine Cail
“ I would love for a young person to walk away from listening to us and go ‘I could do that’…”
“…That’s what it’s about. To keep guitars alive and make (the music) accessible. That’s what made me play guitar”.
When it comes to the future of their sound, it’s possible that other aspects of their music taste may come out in their songs. “I would love to do a proper cowboy-type record”, James admitted. “Not really country but real desert-y psych rock kind of thing. Like Brian Jonestown (Massacre). I would love to do more hyper-pop drum and bass type shit as well, like new wave. I think that’s always kind of seeping its way into what this is”. Ed gets to express another side of his taste in a different group. “I actually have another band called Tired All The Time, But that’s kind of more like heavy indie post rock, post punk type of music.” Although, his other band isn’t completely different from what he does in Teen Mortgage. “If I had a chance to play in a heavier, slower band it would be the opposite of what we’re doing as far as tempos, at least for most of it. I don’t know if that will materialize, but it’s something interesting.” Ed also seems open to the idea of starting to take more influence from drum and bass for the band.
“Listening to a lot of electronica it’d be cool at some point to evolve that set up and do the pseudo half-acoustic half electronic stuff because it’s something I haven't really touched on exploring with in the past…”
“… But I think it's a really cool area of music where it’s really organic but it snaps into repetition so it’s mechanized too.”
Teen Mortgage’s newest album, Devil Ultrasonic Dream, that came out in April of 2025 was a huge accomplishment for both James and Ed in many ways. “I think there's some variety in the songs. I’m proud of the song Personal Hell. We slowed it down on that song and the vocals– I'm at the top of my range on that shit. It's the highest I can sing. So I’m stoked on the vocal performances on that. It’s hard to do every night (laughs)…”
“we’re challenging ourselves in the band. That’s what you should do. There has to be some sort of progression and I think we did that.”
Crowd going wild at teen mortgage concert in paris
image by sixtine cail
Ed was also happy with the production process of the record. “I’m so happy we did it. We rose to the occasion. We did it really fast too. we were told that we don’t have a time limit but we set our own time that we wanted it done in. We got it all wrapped up, we signed, and we went right into the studio and finished it in the next few months. So we did it at a pretty fast pace (laughs). So we turned it in and sometimes you could turn stuff in to a label and they send you back in the studio with notes, but everyone was ready to move forward. “
All in all, Teen Mortgage are an American band who embody how Americans feel about the state of their nation. They both confront the issues and encourage people to escape through music. In their performance, they ironically play patriotic tunes in between songs to subtly make the message clear. I'll leave you with a last message from James:
“Don’t fall for the lies. If that’s one thing I can tell young people through my lyrics, especially in America, they want to make you a complacent drone, a slave to the wage. Leverage your labor and have a good time. Don’t try too hard because it’s fucked up out here (laughs).”
noize magazine x teen mortgage july 2025 cover
image by sixtine cail
graphic design by alessandra berry