Geek the Girl

Lisa Germano

Britta Pietila

“Geek the Girl,” Lisa Germano's third studio album, is lyrically and instrumentally depressing. It is not your typical ‘90s rock record, filled with angst and the wavering screams of third wave feminism. Rather, it is a grudgingly introspective folk-rock dream-pop hybrid.

Germano dances through themes of love, regret, and shame. As uncanny back-tracks and violin drown behind her dark lyrics and witchy-yet-whispering voice, prepare yourself a haunting listen.

The title track, “Geek the Girl,” tells a story of the battle between self-hatred and expression. Germano places herself under a microscope to emphasize all the bad while telling us everything is fine. Repeating over and over, “I’m not too cool, I’m not too cool,” Germano is painfully self-aware.

The jolting “Cancer of Everything” follows, digging deeper into her regret and desires to fall apart in spite of her regrets. “This is a happy song,” says Germano, “'Cause I want cancer of everything.” She wants the attention that comes with giving in to your failures instead of getting past them.

“...of Love and Colors” gets even more down and dirty, introducing themes of distrust, hopelessness, and addiction. Leading with a harrowing question: “What are we gonna do; With ourselves; And our addictions; And our desire to kill each other?” Germano goes to answer this question on her own after lines detailing love lost and trust broken: “We quit dreaming long ago...Makes all the sense in the world.”

Germano’s “Geek the Girl” is a heaping hunk of healthy introspection and unhealthy rumination. If you are a fan of familiar female alt-rock powerhouses of the ‘90s, like Cat Power and PJ Harvey, Lisa Germano will earn a respectable spot in your playlist.