Lisa Germano

Rolling Stone (9/5/96, p.64) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Lisa Germano makes music so beautifully tragic and depressing that it seems nearly fatal....There is a surreal quality to the music--accordion, violin, the meowing of her cat--that is enhanced by the woozy, underwater feel of the production, washing the album in a depressive mysticism..."
Spin (10/96, pp.132-135) - 8 - Very Good - "...She values mood and texture over structure, and lets her lyrics lead her music, whether into autistic repetition or dead-end labyrinths....Eventually, the overwhelming pathos makes you want to stuff some 'zac down her throat. The disturbing thing is, she might just like it..."
Musician (11/96, pp.84-85) - "...songs of penetrating artfulness, with a dry, kind wit that keeps her darkest thoughts from seeming like the popular art of moping....the production textures are haunting and inviting, and always with a deceptive twist..."
Q Magazine (10/96, p.164) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Germano's world of intimate vaudeville and warped lullabies varies wildly between doleful navel-gazing and a transcendent rawness..."
Melody Maker (9/14/96, p.48) - "...The open therapy of her past three records hasn't lifted Germano's depressive fog....LOVE CIRCUS is the sound of someone who can no longer face getting up in the mornings. It's honest, accurate, a masterpiece."
Entertainment Weekly (9/20/96, p.83) - "...quirky elements help lighten the troubled lullabies by Germano....slightly more upbeat than on her last disc. Here's hoping one day she completely steps off that depressing merry-go-round." - Rating: B+
Option (11-12/96, p.105) - "...LOVE CIRCUS laments that romance, once attained, is just another form of loneliness....While never quite reaching the visceral heights of GEEK, this is still a riveting listen from the Liz Phair of the psycho set..."
Alternative Press (10/96, p.86) - 4 (out of 5) "...full band feel dominated by spectral violin....deceptively tuneful, delightfully dark..."

Lisa Germano makes music so beautifully tragic and depressing that it seems nearly fatal.
When Germano – a former backing violinist for John Mellencamp and Bob Seger – became
a solo artist, it wasn't the weepy moan of her instrument that touched a universal nerve but
the resigned cadence in her voice and her self-deprecating lyrics. She represented all
those girls who used to hear, "Hey, smile, it's not that bad," and instead of answe... More >