fanclubwallet

fanclubwallet – the project of Ottawa-based musician Hannah Judge – shares a video for the title track from her new album, You Have Got To Be Kidding Me, out this Friday on AWAL. Tonally, a fanclubwallet song is like a Hop Along song, a Rilo Kiley song. These songs burst and explode in the sky like a backyard fireworks display. “You Have Got To Be Kidding Me” is stealthily infectious – it’s a song you find yourself absentmindedly humming to. Judge sings about duality of personality over instrumentation that sounds bright-eyed and earnest: “So now you’ve seen me twice // Once when I wasn’t very kind // Kinda sucks to be nice // Now you’ve seen me that way // And I don’t wanna stay.”

“Sometimes people can be really mean to you and try to pass it off as a joke,” says Judge. “That’s what ‘You Have Got To Be Kidding Me’ is about. It’s about reflecting on ways you’ve been mistreated and ways you’ve maybe acted not so much like yourself because of it. Lyrically it’s a little sad and a little tongue in cheek but for me this song instrumentally really feels like moving on after something bad has happened”

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me is authentic and alive. It’s a record about growing pains and turbulence. It’s about deciding what you want to put up with, and what you don’t want to put up with. As a songwriter, Judge has a wicked sense of humor. She writes slacker bedroom rock, the kind of songs that sound best when you need to go on an extremely long walk to blow off steam. Above all, You Have Got To Be Kidding Me is hopeful. Like, ok, things might be bad, they could be better. Add some guitars, drums, let it all out. That’s what happens on this record. On You Have Got To Be Kidding Me Judge freestyles about her feelings and grows because of it.