Geek the Girl

Most tracks on Geek the Girl were recorded at Lisa Germano's home, giving the album an intimate and demo-like feel. Initially, she played all of the instruments on the record, but she then chose to re-mix four of the tracks with the help of Malcolm Burn, and added Kenny Aronoff on drums.

All of the songs on the album are written by Germano, except for 'Just Geek' and 'Sexy Little Girl Princess', which were co-authored by Malcolm Burn, and 'Cry Wolf', which she wrote with Jay Joyce.{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/geek-the-girl-mw0000122284/credits|title=Geek the Girl – Lisa Germano – Credits – AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 12, 2016}} The album was produced by Germano and Malcolm Burn. It was mixed by Burn at Echo Park Studio in Bloomington, IN, and Kenny Aronoff's drum performances were also recorded there. The album was mastered at Masterdisk.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Lisa-Germano-Geek-The-Girl/release/946299|title=Lisa Germano – Geek The Girl|website=Discogs|date=1999 |access-date=March 12, 2016}} Assistant engineers were Mark Hood, Pat Keating and Ron Black.

Lisa Germano has said that "Geek the Girl is about this person who's not growing and is real stuck. Most of my records are about people who are stuck but they want to go somewhere else."{{Cite web|url=http://onlyangels.free.fr/interviews/g/lisa_germano.htm|title=Only Angels Have Wings : Lisa Germano|website=onlyangels.free.fr|access-date=March 12, 2016}}

Throughout the album, Germano uses a Sicilian folk tune called 'Frascilita' as an interlude between songs, as well as for the introduction to the album, on the first track 'My Secret Reason'.{{Cite web|url=http://www.evo.org/4ad-faq/artists/germano-lisa/muse-interview.txt|title=The Muse Interview with Lisa Germano|last=Efdee|first=Emiel|date=October 29, 1995|access-date=March 12, 2016}} She introduced this piece to add some levity to the album, as she thought it "really needed some comic relief." The album deals with some dark subjects, including stalking (in the much-discussed track 'A Psychopath'), media censorship and inherent evil ('My Secret Reason'), and rape ('Cry Wolf').

The song 'A Psychopath', which samples a real 911 call where a woman confronts an intruder in her home,{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/geek-the-girl-mw0000122284|title=Geek the Girl – Lisa Germano {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 12, 2016}} was written about her own experience with a stalker and the feeling of fear and helplessness that came from it.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/6912/Lisa-Germano|title=Lisa Germano – Interview|website=www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk|access-date=March 12, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://archive.ttbook.org/book/lisa-germano-psychopath|title=Lisa Germano on "The Psychopath"}} She obtained the 911 call recording from a rape centre (with their permission), after encountering it in a documentary about violence. She was hesitant to use the recording, thinking it was "too intense", however ultimately decided it was something worth saying. Germano has said that making the song was scary and very upsetting, and that she had trouble sleeping after recording it.

A music video for "Cry Wolf" was produced. The song was featured in the movie Rain and its soundtrack, years later. A promotional-only CD single for "Cry Wolf" was also released, featuring an edited version of the title track, remixed versions of "Cancer of Everything" and "Sexy Little Girl Princess", and the non-album track "The Mirror Is Gone".{{cite web |title=Lisa Germano – Cry Wolf (CD, Single, Promo) at Discogs |website=Discogs |date=1995 |url=http://www.discogs.com/Lisa-Germano-Cry-Wolf/release/1087219 |accessdate=May 23, 2015}}

{{album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |last=Phares |first=Heather |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/geek-the-girl-mw0000122284 |title=Geek the Girl – Lisa Germano |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=April 7, 2015}}

| rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Germano, Lisa |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A+{{cite magazine |last=Woodard |first=Josef |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1994/10/28/album-review-geek-girl |title=Geek the Girl |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 28, 1994 |accessdate=April 7, 2015}}

| rev4 = The Guardian

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last=Mulholland |first=John |title=Lisa Germano: Geek the Girl (4AD) |newspaper=The Guardian |date=November 25, 1994}}

| rev5 = Q

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Lisa Germano: Geek the Girl |magazine=Q |issue=99 |date=December 1994 |page=133}}

| rev6 = Rolling Stone

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Evans |first=Paul |url=https://www.rollingstone.com:80/artists/lisagermano/albums/album/143121/review/5944196/geek_the_girl |title=Lisa Germano: Geek the Girl |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=November 3, 1994 |accessdate=May 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209095626/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/lisagermano/albums/album/143121/review/5944196/geek_the_girl |archive-date=February 9, 2009 |url-status=dead}}

| rev7 = Select

| rev7score = 4/5{{cite magazine |last=Wilkinson |first=Roy |title=Lisa Germano: Geek the Girl |magazine=Select |issue=54 |date=December 1994 |page=91}}

}}

Josef Woodard of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A+ grade, calling it "one of the more haunting and enlightened projects of the year" and "Raw in sound and subject".

In her retrospective review, Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that "[with] Geek the Girl, Lisa Germano found the perfect balance of her work's inherent contrasts. [...] Geek the Girl's brave whispers hit on more emotional truths than the self-important screams of Germano's mid-'90s, women-in-rock contemporaries."

The album was voted the 84th best of the 1990s by music magazine Spin. The album's title track was voted at number 91 in the same publication's list of the 100 best alternative rock songs.{{cite web |url=http://www.spin.com/2014/08/100-best-alternative-rock-songs-1994-alt/i0pfk9dl0h5kim6ki066g84mkm4/ |title=Lisa Germano, "Geek the Girl" | Spin |website=Spin |accessdate=April 7, 2015}}

{{tracklist

| collapsed =

| headline =

| all_writing = Lisa Germano, except where noted

| title1 = My Secret Reason

| length1 = 4:33

| title2 = Trouble

| length2 = 2:20

| title3 = Geek the Girl

| length3 = 3:40

| title4 = Just Geek

| writer4 = Germano, Malcolm Burn

| length4 = 2:44

| title5 = Cry Wolf

| writer5 = Germano, Burn, Jay Joyce

| length5 = 4:59

| title6 = ...A Psychopath

| length6 = 4:37

| title7 = Sexy Little Girl Princess

| writer7 = Germano, Burn

| length7 = 3:39

| title8 = Phantom Love

| length8 = 3:22

| title9 = Cancer of Everything

| length9 = 4:00

| title10 = A Guy Like You

| length10 = 3:18

| title11 = ...Of Love and Colors

| length11 = 3:55

| title12 = Stars

| length12 = 2:32

}}

• Lisa Germano – performer, production
• Kenny Aronoff – drums on tracks 3, 9 and 12
• Malcolm Burn – drums on tracks 4 and 7, dulcimer on track 7, guitar on tracks 4 and 9, piano on track 7, production, mixing on tracks 3, 5, 9 and 12

; Technical

• Mark Hood – engineering assistance
• Pat Keating – engineering assistance
• Ron Black – engineering assistance
• Greg Calbi – mastering at Masterdisk
• Paul McMenamin at v23 – sleeve art direction
• Dominic Davies – sleeve photography

{{reflist|2}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200304/http://www.4ad.com/lisagermano/releases/geek-the-girl-1/ Geek the Girl] at 4AD

{{Lisa Germano}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Lisa Germano albums

Category:1994 albums

Category:Albums produced by Malcolm Burn

Category:4AD albums