Awkwardness, insecurity, and male dominance have long been standard fare for the so-called riot grrrls, but most times their viewpoint is, at least implicitly, autobiographical. There's nothing wrong

Geek the Girl

Awkwardness, insecurity, and male dominance have long been standard fare for the so-called riot grrrls, but most times their viewpoint is, at least implicitly, autobiographical. There's nothing wrong with confessional songwriting except that it can come dangerously close to self-indulgence if not checked. On Geek the Girl, Lisa Germano frames her discussion of female trouble in a character-driven song cycle and thus manages to distance herself from her album persona--the confused, victimized, and beautiful geek girl. The effect is frighteningly wonderful--a portrait of the horrors and escapist dreams in one adolescent's dysfunctional world.
The album is as sonically unified as it is textually. A recurring circuslike theme sets the dark, absurdist tone of the heroine's life, and the songs share a raw but ethereal wash--chilling at times, exhilarating at others, and often both at once. Croaking guitars, wailing violins, and Germano's faint, breathy singing mold impressions of pain and fragility, while the record remains spare and intimate. Geek the Girl is no small achievement. --Roni Sarig

Geek the Girl