Teen Mortgage - Devil Ultrasonic Dream

Inside the grooves of Teen Mortgage's 'Devil Ultrasonic Dream' lurks something wickedly good – a debut that bottles lightning and serves it neat. The UK-formed, Maryland-based duo have created a record that plays like The Damned gate-crashing a Black Mirror episode, all spit and circuits and delicious discord. The title-track rips open the proceedings like a starting pistol, and from there, it's a glorious scramble through ten tracks of precisely calibrated chaos.

'Ride' and 'Party' form a devastating one-two punch early in the album, both tracks showcasing the band's knack for wrapping barbed commentary in irresistible melodies. The production, handled by the band alongside Kenny Eaton, strikes a perfect balance between polish and grit – clean enough to let the hooks sink in, raw enough to maintain that essential punk edge.

Lead single 'Box' emerges as a standout, distilling everything that makes Teen Mortgage compelling into two minutes of mayhem. It's the kind of track that demands repeated listens, revealing new layers of complexity beneath its immediate surface appeal.

The album's thematic throughline – using satanic panic imagery to critique modern censorship and religious conservatism – could have felt heavy-handed in less capable hands. Instead, it works as both social commentary and pure adrenaline fuel, particularly on tracks like 'Disappear' and the closing 'I Don't Wanna Know', where the messaging and music become inseparable.

What's impressive about 'Devil Ultrasonic Dream' is how it maintains its momentum. There's no filler here, no point where the energy dips below explosive. Even in its quieter moments - as on the deceptively named 'Personal Hell' - the album crackles with purpose and intent.

What Teen Mortgage have built here is more than a collection of razor-sharp punk songs – it's a statement of intent from a band who understand both the history they're drawing from and the future they're hurtling towards.