Lisa Germano
Lullaby for Liquid Pig
iMusic/Artist Direct
The word breathy will not be used again in this review — although it would be accurate for
describing Lisa Germano's honed hum. As would the words confessional, raw, heartbreaking,
bittersweet, haunting, melancholy and cathartic for a surface interpretation of the slumps
she's sung through since her post-fiddling-for-Mellencamp (yes, that one) solo debut in
1991.
But fitting as such words are, they're cheap exchange for the self-dissection Germano so
willingly and insightfully performs with every shaky note. While most would think such introspection
and analyses of human behavior indulgent, not to mention wearying (she's been doing this for over
10 years) — and she might think so, too — Germano scales her moods nonetheless. And like
Jane Goodall finds fascination in decades-long studies of chimps, so does Germano in relentless
and witty observations of our own monkey-brained missteps and interpersonal foibles.
In Germano's sixth field study, Lullaby for Liquid Pig, the themes are familiar and
manic — not unexpected from a woman who wrote a song called "Sycophant" and devoted a track
to giving her cat relationship advice (the ever-consoling "what a shithead" remark in response
to an injured meow). But while she continues along the trajectory of 1998's Slide,
Liquid Pig finds Germano at her fullest. She warbles at the brink of unconsciousness, a
sodden sponge threatening a flood at the slightest touch. The devotion to setting such
teetering to song is the album's strength. No matter the tune, Germano's pipes and strings swoon strong, hovering ominous and knowing
like her floating magician's assistant body on the album's cover.
The opener, "Nobody's Playing," whispers into tune with "These are your secrets/ hidden inside," an
apt beginning for an album replete with such (not so hidden) divulgence. What follows
is just as candid; a chorus of sassy schoolgirls taunting: "I'll be your best friend," "You're
a freak magnet," "There is always another," "Go away, go away, then go away" and "You're sweeter
than sweet/ meaner than mean/ I love you" — and just as fickle, too. Ups are followed by downs, which
give way to ups again — the good ride with any Germano opus.
The hurdy-gurdy spin of "Candy" dizzies around the feel of being properly snockered; "Dream
Glasses Off" is the sobering anti-lullaby its title suggests. "It's Party Time" sways wine
rhymes ("$9.99/ a pretty good wine ... And I smell like wine/ Most of the time"); "Into the Night"
is the wise sister with coffee and aspirin. It's honest, too, as she doesn't shy away from the fact that
"It's not gonna be alright/ this time." And in the middle, the devastating but playful
"From a Shell" twinkles and swells, rosey-ringing around lines like, "And the earth spins 'round
while/ the people fall down." Among the simplest of Liquid Pig's 12 tracks, it's also the
best example of Germano's contradictions — her somber revelations and melodies for them, whether
bouncing, beautiful or both.
Given that it's been five years since her last release and her formal announcement that she
was no longer going to record, Lullaby for Liquid Pig never screams Germano's return
to the scene — it states it plainly as has always been her way. It's just Lisa being Lisa.
And that's all we need.
— Lavina Lee (lavina at flakmag dot com)
