Singer Andrea de Varona shared, “We really wanted to make a 2000s-inspired club jam that still had the angsty, Riot Grrrl-esque energy that has been at the forefront of Fake Dad’s performance and writing style over the past couple of years. This time, though, rather than going for all angst, all yell we wanted the crux of the song to circle back to something really vulnerable. So yes, I’m this anti-establishment, ‘calling out the man’ baddie, but also I want to be seen, and I want to be loved for all the parts of me. And the realization that maybe the nuance of my inner world makes me kind of messy and insane. Like I want to be untouchable but also really want to let my guard down and be accepted. And at the end of the day, who doesn’t feel a little crazy when it comes to love and relationships?”

The band’s other half, Josh Ford, further elaborated, “This song is part of an exploration we’re doing lately into the intersection between electro/house music and the ethos of punk. There’s so many cool artists right now that are engaging with computer music in much the same way punks in the 70s and 80s were engaging with guitar music. We really wanted this song to straddle that divide between riot grrrl punk energy and electro club girl energy, because to us they feel like they’re one and the same.”

“Lots of our songs are written from the perspective of this elevated character who is confident, aggressive, and combative. This song finds her trying to convince a lover (and herself) that she won’t stand for bullshit, and won’t accept disrespect—just to turn around in the chorus and admit that ultimately, she is desperate for any scrap of attention they’re willing to give her, and will debase herself to get it. It’s inherently hypocritical, or at least self-deluded. It’s a situation a lot of people find themselves in.”

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The latest offering off the project, ‘Machinery’ is about the pressure for women in music to package themselves as consumable, f*ckable products just to be taken seriously—and how that pits them against each other and themselves.

Andrea confides, “This angry, teeth-grinding rock/pop track was written right after an industry showcase where every girl performing wore the exact same spike-studded bra—too concerned with sizing each other up to actually have a good time. As they eyed each other with loathing and borderline obsession, I stood in the corner feeling really sad that nobody was trying to connect, which is what we were all supposedly there to do. This song was written as a response to the way this kind of woman on woman (or more generally, artist on artist) hate perpetuates these spaces while the real culprits—our sick, sad society governed by narcissistic, billionaire white men—totally fly under the radar. In the end, the man is the real one we’re calling out. The one that we’re sick and tired of watching get what they want, while we sit back eating from their palm.”

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The latest offering off the project, ‘ON/OFF’ is a grunge classic full of bottled-up rage and sexual frustration. De Varona chronicles the moment-by-moment experience of being emotionally overwhelmed and overstimulated—bedrotting, serotonin burnout, doomscrolling, time bleeding together, laying on the bathroom floor trying to figure out if she’s feeling too much, or not enough. De Varona’s airy, haunting tone and sparse melody really immerse the listener in the dissociative, stomach-dropping feeling of time bleeding together in verses that will sound familiar to anyone who has struggled with depression and burnout. Then, when it feels as though neither of you can take it anymore, the song explodes with rage, begging to be left alone by the glowing screens, push notifications, and panic-stricken headlines of the outside world, just for a moment. de Varona begs “can you turn it all off/so you can turn me back on?/can you ask me where it hurts/need you here, you know I get nervous.”

De Varona says about the song, “This was written when I couldn’t get out of bed or leave my apartment. Time really bleeds together. When you ignore feelings for long enough you become overwhelmed by and disconnected from them—both numb and overactivated. This song compares that numbness to its direct companion, doomscrolling serotonin burnout. The modern world wants us to be overstimulated and ‘turned off,’ this song is me pleading to be turned back on.“

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Birthed from Fake Dad’s deep dive into Russian Dark Wave (and post-punk bands) and a tragic falling out with a fashion major (childhood) best friend who hailed from a wealthy UES Manhattan type family, this song is about the insecurity and sadness hidden behind the eyes of so many of the people the fashion industry swallows up with the promise of beauty and power. It at once exalts, criticizes, and empathizes with them, aiming to hand the fashion girls back their power and grant them an opportunity to reconcile with the ephemeral love and power that masquerades as the ideal, golden shell of a life. Listeners can expect to hear a sound reminiscent of 80s New Wave (New Order, Joy Division, The Cure, Talking Heads) for a non-male-led era. In other words, all the female-fronted, angsty energy of 90s riot grrrl/bikini kill punk along with its slightly more pop-leaning, bratty (yet still unequivocally angry) early 2000s sound reminiscent of bands like No Doubt, The Cardigans, Alanis Morissette, Paramore, and P!nk.

The duo collaborated with co-producer Ricky Berotti (Anna Shoemaker) to bring the song to life while front-woman Andrea de Varona led the writing process. At first glance, ‘FASHION GIRL’ is a fun, energetic track that calls upon listeners to let-loose with contagiously danceable reverb-soaked Oberheim drum machine patterns, messy driving distorted guitar, heavy bass, and surf-rock style riffs. With a deeper look into the single, Fake Dad speaks to an untapped, silent pain that so many people carry around with them about constantly being made to feel like they will never look good enough, be pretty or hot in the right way, and the unacknowledged frustration – and rage – that they live in a world that assigns so much of their worth to people’s ability to live up to superficial ideals. Fake Dad wants listeners to experience a sense of catharsis from this track, “whether it’s someone who dedicates their life to changing themselves into something that looks good enough, or someone who wishes they could opt out of the value system entirely, there is an anger that needs to be released.”

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