Geek Rock

Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture examines the relationship between geek culture and popular music, tracing a history from the late 1960s to the present day. The term “geek rock” refers to forms of popular music that celebrate all things campy, kitschy, and quirky. In this collection of essays, contributors explore the evolution of this music genre, from writing songs about poodles, girls, monster movies, and outer space to just what it means to be “white and nerdy.”

Editors Alex DiBlasi and Victoria Willis have gathered eleven essays from across the world, covering every facet of geek culture from its earliest influences, including
Frank ZappaCaptain BeefheartDevoThey Might Be GiantsWeird Al YankovicPresent-day advocates of “Nerdcore”
Geek Rock offers a working history of this subgenre, which has finally begun to come under academic study. The essays take a variety of scholarly approaches, encompassing musicology, race, gender studies, sociology, and Lacanian psychoanalysis.

Geek Rock will be of interest to readers of all backgrounds: music scholars, college and university professors, sociologists, and die-hard fans.

Alex DiBlasi has done extensive research on The Kinks, The Who, The Monkees, Frank Zappa, and the influences of Eastern religion in popular music. His other fields of research include experimental film, Czech New Wave cinema, and east European History.

Victoria Willis, Ph.D., is a research analyst in the Office of Institutional Research at Georgia State University. Her research interests revolve around the intersections of rhetoric, music, and popular culture.