Fake Dad’s “Demonology” rewrites the rules of the alternative pop playbook

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, alternative pop music has set itself on a bold, relatively satirical (and sometimes just plain unhinged) path. You can see it and hear it in a few different camps, from the indie sleaze revival, and its electronic textures, to the Wet Legs of the world, and their playful use of the post punk idiom.

Somewhere in between sits LA-based duo Fake Dad, composed of Andrea De Varona and Josh Ford, who met at a college party in the East Village, New York City. Since 2019 they’ve built a dynamic catalogue that goes from dreamy, with a chillwave quality, to songs that sound a little more grounded, and in short: some unapologetically fun, guitar-led alt-pop to cut loose to.

Their last single, “Invader”, was the most fun yet – a middle finger to (certain members of) the fearmongering global elite, delivered in two languages over a raging Prodigy beat. Although their newest single “Demonology” tones down the energy somewhat, it’s still a tune made in the same spirit as “Invader”. The production, for instance, composed of lo-fi drums, spacey keys, and light touches of synth, summons Massive Attack, DJ Shadow, and Moby – some of the most exciting voices of the alternative 90s.

The lyrics to “Demonology”, meanwhile, match that forward-thinking spirit like in “Invader”. They’re cutting through the nonsense. “As a frontwoman/songwriter in LA, it’s so easy to feel competitive. There are so many beautiful, talented people, and even more who would do anything to feel that way,” says De Varona.

“This edgy, distorted breakbeat track carries a late 90s aesthetic, inspired by the music of women in the alt-rock scene who were pitted against each other, Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna. In response, the song is about learning to empathise with the other women and non-males in my space, realising we’re not so different.”

That sentiment coalesces in a syrupy hook which will probably be bouncing around your head for quite a while: “You wanna be pretty? You wanna be evil? / Put on that celebrity skin”.

For a while, indie pop and rock artists have obviously been a dime a dozen. However, there’s something to be said for alt-pop purveyors who ditch fake earnestness and tap into the 2020s zeitgeist, where people tend to be bolder, more playful, and willing to cut through the noise. With an EP on the way in 2026 titled Sci-Fi Fantasy, Fake Dad's certainly got that attitude down to a tee.