GARAGE PUNK DUO TEEN MORTGAGE DROP VIDEO FOR INCENDIARY NEW SINGLE “DEMOCRACY MANIFEST” — WATCH
PERFORMANCES AT ROCKLAHOMA, RIOT FEST, + TOUR WITH RISE AGAINST AND ALKALINE TRIO ON DECK
With a blistering, no-frills assault, Baltimore punk duo TEEN MORTGAGE — guitarist/vocalist James Guile and drummer EdBarakauskas — deliver raw, fuzzed-out riffs over pounding, minimalist drums, locking into a relentless groove that feels equal parts grit-infused punk and hardcore urgency.
Today, they share “Democracy Manifest.” It was produced with Teen Mortgage collaborator Kenny Eaton and mixed and mastered by Caeser Edmunds (Beach House, Wet Leg, Code Orange).
The video is a collaboration between Teen Mortgage and acclaimed animation studio EraserDread. The video collides the biting lyrics of “Democracy Manifest” with the current landscape in the world.”‘Democracy Manifest’ manifested itself naturally. As the USA draws closer to resembling Big Brother and Oceania in 1984, we needed to vent our frustrations around having to engage with a society that takes everything and gives little to nothing back; each and every facet of American life has become a scam,” the band declares.
“Democracy Manifest” hits with immediate, irresistible bounce — fun, punchy, and wired with an authentic punk spirit that takes aim at the powers that be. Teen Mortgage turn frustration into fuel, delivering unifying riot music. The track is pure sugar-rush chaos: thumping, unhinged, and grinning while it flips off everything broken about the world right now. Like all of the best punk artists before them, Teen Mortgage delivers a high-voltage way to confront the realities shaping everyday life right now, channeling anger into something communal, cathartic, and undeniably alive. “Democracy Manifest” at its core, is two middle fingers with a killer hook.
Teen Mortgage’s recent recent live performance at alt-favorite KEXP is sweaty, stripped-down, and confrontational, with zero dead space — just pure, amplified energy from start to finish. Recorded during their successful Spring 2026 tour run with Joyce Manor, the KEXP team captured the essence of the D.C. duo’s DIY ethos in one of the most impressive displays of punk rock of recent memory. Watch the TEEN MORTGAGE x KEXP session here.
Ready to take their debut Roadrunner Records LP, Devil Ultrasonic Dream, on the road again, the band will spend most of the fall on the road, including stops at this summer’s Rocklahoma (Pryor, OK), Riot Fest (Chicago, IL), Vans Warped Tour (Orlando, FL) and more. TEEN MORTGAGE will be joining punk rock mainstays, Rise Against and Alkaline Trio, for a trip around the States starting September 22 in Dallas, TX. All dates are below.
For rock fans still chasing that jolt of something real, loud, and dangerous, TEEN MORTGAGE aren’t asking for your attention — they are demanding it. As the genre evolves, the duo stand at the front of the charge, and ignoring them isn’t just a miss — it’s a mistake.
TEEN MORTGAGE ON TOUR:
8/7—Caminha, PT—SonicBlast 2026
8/11—Ilirska Bistrica, SI—Mladinski Klub Nade Zagar Ilirska Bistrica
8/12—Tolmin, SI—Punk Rock Holiday 2026
8/13—Budapest, HU—Sziget Fesztivál
8/15—Seelbach, DE—Hoflärm
8/16—Wiesbaden, DE—Schlachthof Wiesbaden
8/17—Leipzig, DE—Täubchenthal
8/19—Ultrecht, NL—De Helling
8/20—Bochum, DE—Matrix Bochum
8/21—Biddinghuizen, NL—Lowlands Festival 2026
8/22—Hasselt, BE—Pukkelpop 2026
8/25—Sheffield, UK—Yellow Arch Studios
8/26—Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK—Think Tank
8/28—Glasgow, UK—Room 2
8/29—Cardiff, UK—Clwb Ifor Bach
8/30—Tunbridge Wells, UK—Tunbridge Wells Forum
9/5—Pryor, OK—Rocklahoma 2026
9/18—Chicago, IL—Riot Fest 2026
WITH RISE AGAINST + ALKALINE TRIO:
9/22—Dallas, TX—South Side Ballroom
9/23—Austin, TX—Moody Amphitheater
9/25—Clearwater, FL—The BayCare Sound
9/26—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre
9/27—Raleigh, NC—Red Hat Amphitheater
9/30—New York, NY—The Rooftop At Pier 17
10/1—Boston, MA—MGM Music Hall At Fenway
10/3—Asbury Park, NJ—Stone Pony Summer Stage
10/4—Philadelphia, PA—The Fillmore Philadelphia
10/6—Chesterfield, MO—The Factory
10/7—Waukee, IA—Vibrant Music Hall
10/9—Council Bluffs, IA—Stir Concert Cave-Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino & Hotel
10/10—Milwaukee, WI—The Rave
10/12—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10/14—Phoenix, AZ—Arizona Financial Theatre
10/15—Albuquerque, NM—Revel
10/17—Las Vegas, NV—Pearl Concert Theater At Palms Casino Resort
10/18—Salt Lake City, UT—The Union Event Center
10/20—Seattle, WA—WAMU Theater
10/22—San Francisco, CA—The Masonic
10/23—Irvine, CA—Great Park Live
FESTIVAL:
11/14—Orlando, FL—Vans Warped Tour Orlando 2026
ABOUT TEEN MORTGAGE:
Teen Mortgage are here with a full can of gasoline, as the world burns, to help brighten our day. Hailing from England, guitarist and frontman James Guile had been noodling with the Teen Mortgage project under various monikers for years, all the while building a sound laden with sociopolitical commentary spun into anthems with heavy mosh pit energy and influenced by classic ’80s punk bands. After relocating to Maryland five years ago, where the trash fire in D.C. burns brightest, he posted a “DRUMMER WANTED” classified ad along with some early TEEN MORTGAGEdemos on Craigslist as sort of a joke. Luckily, drummer (and former nurse) Edward Barakauskas knows funny and the universe knew we needed Teen Mortgage now more than ever, the rest is, as they say, musical history.The duo spent the following years trying not to die and growing the Teen Mortgage brand in the DMV. In between a global pandemic and Ed serving as an ER frontline worker, they managed to drop an EP and a number of singles before signing to Roadrunner Records in 2024. In April 2025, coming off of touring with Weezer and The Smashing Pumpkins, Ed and James deliver their first full length album Devil Ultrasonic Dream, which continues on their narrative about trying to enjoy life despite living through the age of tech feudalism, American oligarchy, and military industrial complex.
The title Devil Ultrasonic Dream leans into 1980’s “Satanic Panic” in rock and roll as the nation shifts further into fascist Christian theocracy and censorship.
Not sure if he was going to wake up dead on any given morning, Guile kept the creative process on D.U.S.D. simple, saying, “I just wrote the demos over the period of the last year between touring. I wrote like 25 songs, we picked the best 11. We went to the same studio we’ve been going to for the bulk of our recording career; worked with Kenny Eaton at Mystery Ton Studios, and made the better version of what we did before. The guitars are recorded better, the drums are recorded better, vocals are recorded better. We went on tour with Weezer and the Smashing Pumpkins and I just got blown away with that sound of Billy Corgan’s layering of guitars so there’s just big ass guitars on this one and the lyrics are a lot better as well.”
Not that he gives two shits about being categorized, when asked what box he thinks the band might be put in with this album, Guile responds, “I think punk is so loosely defined, especially hardcore in the year 2025 is like so loosely defined. I’ve heard people call us surf hardcore; I’ll take that. I can think maybe the Dead Kennedys is like a surf hardcore band, but I just call it punk or garage punk. I feel like if it’s garage punk there’s more of a template to do whatever you want with it; it doesn’t put you as much in that hardcore box. I’ll accept it if people think we’re hardcore, soft core, whatever. Fuck it.”
