fanclubwallet – the ecstatic, tongue in cheek project of Ottawa-based musician Hannah Judge – released her debut album, "You Have Got To Be Kidding Me". Following lead single “Gr8! Timing,” “Trying To Be Nice” surges with guitar and bright, driving synth. Despite its self-questioning lyrics, the song buzzes with a danceable melody. “‘Trying To Be Nice’ was written over the course of a couple years. The first half of the song includes lyrics I wrote on the Greyhound to my hometown after deciding to move back home, and the second half was written a few years later in a studio in the woods,” says Judge. “Both parts of the song were written at different times when I was feeling really unsure of myself. It’s all about wondering what people think of you and questioning what you think of yourself.”

"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. Tonally, a fanclubwallet song is like a Hop Along song, a Rilo Kiley song. 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. You Have Got To Be Kidding Me is angsty and anthemic. These songs burst, explode in the sky like a backyard fireworks display.

Judge, who is now 22, started writing these songs two years ago, at the start of the pandemic. She had just broken up with her boyfriend, dropped out of university, and moved back home to live with her parents in Ottawa. Back at home, her goal was to work on comics. Along the way, she started writing songs. She got more and more serious about it, enlisting a childhood friend to help produce, Michael Watson. To finish the album, Judge received a grant that allowed the two to travel to Port William Sound, a recording studio in a remote part of Ontario. They’d spend 10 hour days recording, putting the final touches on the record in a place without distractions. The resulting record 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.
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