Geek the Girl: 30th Anniversary Special Edition

Remastered and expanded (featuring ‘Cry Wolf’ b-side ‘The Mirror Is Gone’ and the 5-track pre-cursor EP Inconsiderate Bitch). Pressed on double, crystal clear vinyl with a cover designed by Chris Bigg (v23) featuring imagery from the original porcelain doll cover shoot by Dominic Davies.

The 30th Anniversary Special Edition of Geek the Girl is the most comprehensive release the album has received since its original 1994 publication by 4AD—and, more significantly, its first-ever pressing on vinyl. Released on April 12, 2025 as an RSD First exclusive for Record Store Day, the edition arrives as both a corrective and a celebration: a belated recognition that one of the decade’s most uncompromising records had somehow never been made available in the format many of its listeners most associate with serious archival attention.

The edition was limited to 1,000 copies on crystal-clear 2LP. A CD and digital version followed on May 23, 2025. Both formats present the album in a newly remastered state, paired with the previously CD-only “Cry Wolf” b-side “The Mirror Is Gone” and the complete five-track Inconsiderate Bitch EP—making this the first release to gather all of the primary 1994 Geek the Girl-era material in a single package.

Background

Geek the Girl was released in October 1994, just months into Germano’s tenure at 4AD, and arrived to strong critical notice, but it didn’t receive a vinyl pressing. The original release existed only on CD and cassette, a gap that went unaddressed for more than three decades despite the album’s growing canonical stature. It was ranked 84th among Spin magazine’s top 100 albums of the 1990s, and its reputation continued to expand well past that moment, driven almost entirely by word of mouth.

By the time 4AD announced the 30th Anniversary Special Edition in February 2025, the absence of a vinyl pressing had become one of the more frequently noted gaps among collectors and listeners of the era. The announcement confirmed that the edition would also incorporate material that had remained scattered across scarce promo singles and out-of-print EPs: “The Mirror Is Gone,” previously available only on the 1995 Cry Wolf promo CD and on the 1995 compilation Red Hot + Bothered: The Indie Rock Guide to Dating, and the five tracks of the Inconsiderate Bitch EP, which had first appeared in January 1994.

The Inconsiderate Bitch EP occupies a specific and illuminating place in the album’s context. Released roughly nine months before Geek the Girl, it was one of 4AD’s “temporary releases”—limited editions designed to accompany and introduce concurrent label releases. In this case, it served as the introduction of Germano to 4AD’s audience ahead of the label’s April 1994 reissue of Happiness. The five tracks were remixed versions of songs from that album, overseen by Ivo Watts-Russell and John Fryer (except track five, mixed by Malcolm Burn), and recorded at Kingsway Studio in New Orleans and mixed at Blackwing Studios in London. Its inclusion in the 2025 edition reframes the LP as a document of the full arc of Germano’s 1994 creative period, from the Happiness remixes through to the completed Geek the Girl.

---

LP Tracklist

Side A	Title	Length
A1	My Secret Reason	4:31
A2	Trouble	2:20
A3	Geek the Girl	3:40
A4	Just Geek	2:43
A5	Cry Wolf	4:59
A6	…A Psychopath	4:36

Side B	Title	Length
B1	Sexy Little Girl Princess	3:38
B2	Phantom Love	3:21
B3	Cancer of Everything	4:00
B4	A Guy Like You	3:18
B5	…Of Love and Colors	3:54
B6	Stars	2:34
B7	The Mirror is Gone	2:40

Side C	Title	Length
C1	Happiness	8:16
C2	Energy	3:49
C3	Puppet	4:03

Side D	Title	Length
D1	Sycophant	5:29
D2	(Late Night) Dresses	4:16

CD Tracklist

Disc 1	Title	Length
1	My Secret Reason	4:31
2	Trouble	2:20
3	Geek the Girl	3:40
4	Just Geek	2:43
5	Cry Wolf	4:59
6	…A Psychopath	4:36
7	Sexy Little Girl Princess	3:38
8	Phantom Love	3:21
9	Cancer of Everything	4:00
10	A Guy Like You	3:18
11	…Of Love and Colors	3:54
12	Stars	2:34
13	The Mirror is Gone	2:40

Disc 2	Title	Length
1	Happiness	8:16
2	Energy	3:49
3	Puppet	4:03
4	Sycophant	5:29
5	(Late Night) Dresses	4:16

For the 30th Anniversary Special Edition, the album was remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London. The remaster was carried out in consultation with the existing Masterdisk masters and represents the first time the album’s audio has been revisited for a major release since the original 1994 CD.

The Inconsiderate Bitch EP tracks were recorded at Kingsway Studio in New Orleans. They were mixed at Blackwing Studios in London by Ivo Watts-Russell and John Fryer, except for one track mixed by Malcolm Burn. These tracks carry a production character audibly distinct from the Geek the Girl material—fuller and more conventionally mixed, reflecting the different creative hands and context of their origin.

Packaging & Design

The 2025 LP packaging was designed by Chris Bigg of V23—the same design studio, and in the case of the Inconsiderate Bitch EP, one of the same designers, who worked on original 4AD releases in the Germano catalogue. Bigg returned to the original 1994 cover shoot by photographer Dominic Davies, whose porcelain doll imagery defined the visual identity of the original release. Rather than replacing or significantly departing from that aesthetic, the new design draws additional material from the same shoot, presenting it in a format that complements rather than supplants the original.

The LP is pressed on crystal-clear vinyl, a deliberate choice that gives the format a visual identity distinct from standard black pressings and aligns with 4AD’s approach for other 30th Anniversary releases in the same RSD batch (Belly’s King, for example, was issued on limited green vinyl).

The inner sleeves of the LP include the full lyrics, which several reviewers specifically noted as a meaningful addition—the words to these songs, including the closing liner note dedication (“fuck off and die to all rapists and stalkers”), having never previously appeared in a format that could be read while holding the record.

The cover art for the original Inconsiderate Bitch EP (1994) used a painting by Cathy Fenwick, courtesy of East West Gallery in London, with design by Vaughan Oliver and Chris Bigg at V23, distinct from the Davies photograph used for Geek the Girl. The 2025 packaging adopts the Geek the Girl visual language throughout, unifying the expanded edition under the doll imagery rather than presenting the EP material in its original design context.

Press Release

4AD Records
February 6, 2025

Lisa Germano – Geek the Girl (30th Anniversary Special Edition) – Remastered and expanded (featuring ‘Cry Wolf’ b-side ‘The Mirror Is Gone’ and the 5-track pre-cursor EP Inconsiderate Bitch). Pressed on double, crystal clear vinyl with a cover designed by Chris Bigg (v23) featuring imagery from the original porcelain doll cover shoot by Dominic Davies. 

Lisa Germano’s landmark 1994 album, Geek The Girl, is a prescient yet unsettling listen. A record that explores themes of stalking, sexual harassment, anxiety and the female experience, word of mouth has only grown since its release and despite now widely being seen as a classic of its time, it’s somehow evaded a vinyl pressing, much to the chagrin of fans. So, in great news, 4AD are finally righting this on Record Store Day 2025 with a special double vinyl pressing to celebrate the album’s 30th Anniversary.

A record that is as vital a statement today as when first released, Lisa is unflinching and unbowed throughout Geek The Girl, giving a platform to the silenced, or as she says, “people who are stuck but want to go somewhere else.” Writing with a raw, emotional honesty – sometimes from a kowtowing perspective – she holds little back. An incredible body of work, the atmosphere is heightened by a jaunting violin sound and her use of (with permission and after much deliberation) of a real 911 call in which a woman confronts an intruder in her own home. Her recurring use of Sicilian folk tune ‘Frascilita’ as an interlude jars too, even though she intended for it to give the album some needed “comic relief.”

Ranked in SPIN Magazine’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, Geek The Girl is unlike most music of the period and a testament to both Lisa’s artistry and courage. Working with Abbey Road Studios in London, the album has been remastered for its 30th anniversary and has had both ‘Cry Wolf’ b-side ‘The Mirror Is Gone’ and 5 track pre-cursor EP, Inconsiderate Bitch, added to deliver the complete package. Destined to be one of Record Store Day 2025’s highlights, it’s being pressed on double, crystal clear vinyl while designer Chris Bigg (v23) has returned to the porcelain doll cover shoot by Dominic Davies to deliver a stunning new design that complements the original album art.

Personnel

Musicians:
Kenny Aronoff: Drums on “Geek the Girl,” “A Guy Like You,” and “Stars”
Malcolm Burn: Drums and guitar on “Just Geek,” drums, dulcimer, and piano on “Sexy Little Girl Princess,” and guitar on “Cancer of Everything”

Tracks 3, 5, 9, and 12 mixed by Malcolm Burn (and Kenny recorded) at Echo Park Studio in Bloomington, Indiana

All songs written by Lisa Germano
All songs published by Emotional Wench Music / Universal Music Publishing Ltd. / BMI. Except the Italian folk tune called “Frascilita.”

“Cry Wolf” co-written with Jay Joyce
Jay Joyce Music / Left on Base BMI and Malcolm Burn Neeha Music ASCAP.

“Just Geek” and “Sexy Little Girl Princess” co-written with Malcolm Burn Neeha Music ASCAP.

Remastered at Abbey Road Studios, London
Art Direction and Design: Chris Bigg (V23)
Photography (original): Dominic Davies
Cover image for Inconsiderate Bitch EP original: Cathy Fenwick, courtesy East West Gallery, London

Related Press

Related Releases

---