I was minding my own business scouting out new Jonathan Coulton material on iTunes when out of the corner of my eye I spotted some crazy song titles in the ‘listeners also bought’ section. There seemed to be a heavy focus on superheroes and celebrating nerdiness. Well before I knew it I had needle-dropped my way through a hitherto unknown genre to me – geek rock. You can find plenty of essays online to tell you all about it but, suffice to say, it tends to be defined by quirky songwriting, a passion for outsider culture, and plenty of hooks. Here’s just a smattering of what this scene has to offer.

In many ways Chicago’s I Fight Dragons are the poster child for this genre with song titles like “Geeks Will Inherit the Earth,” “Save World Get Girl” and “No One Likes Superman Anymore.” Their on-the-cheap videos are pretty fun too. Personally I’m keen on “cRaZie$” from their 2011 album Kaboom! where they lampoon the cabin-in-the-woods horror genre. Now if you want an act that commits to the bit, check out Harry and the Potters. They have released something like four albums, six EPs and host of one-off singles and every song inhabits the Potter universe. As I don’t really know just where to start here, I’m featuring a cool track from the band’s last long-player Lumos entitled “The Banality of Evil (Song for Albert Runcorn)” that features a great guitar solo. Kirby Krackle dives deep into the geek rock bag of tricks with songs about superpowers and evil villains and the need for proper insurance for henchmen. But another side of the genre is all about riffing on recent pop culture. KK excels here with a load of stand-alone tunes, like this paean to Stranger Things heroine “Eleven, I’ll Wait For You.”

Given its goofball tendencies the geek rock genre can attract more than few one-off ‘we’re just passing through’ efforts. Grandpa Griffith have a whole album of songs about talking monkeys and unstoppable robots but nary a write up anywhere. Oh well. “Aquaman” from their LP Electric Scooter Holiday Blowout is worth grabbing your attention. Mark Aaron James also has songs about superheroes (“Aquaman’s Lament” “Batman’s Reply”) and science fiction TV obsession (“Shatner at the Convention”). But he also embodies the genre’s tendency for self-reflective protagonists.  Both “This Song’s About” and “This Song Would Be Better” have the singer tied in knots about what his songs mean and the meaning of success, in a style that marries Glass Houses era Billy Joel with early Elvis Costello. Unfortunately, neither is posted on bandcamp so you’re getting more Aquaman. Buffalo’s Ookla the Mok are spilling over with talent. It’s all here: superhero riffing, geek convention in-jokes, popular culture call outs, and monkey concept albums. But behind the jokey-ness is serious musical talent, akin to They Might Be Giants. You won’t go wrong dialing in to any of their albums but I’m starting you on “Medieval Evel Knievel” from their Nerdvana EP. Funny and oh so well played.

Jonathan Coulton definitely has plenty of geek rock material but I’m wrapping this feature with a song from his 2017 Solid State record that is simply a straightforward should-be hit single, “Sunshine.” There’s still plenty of Coulton’s lyrical cleverisms with lines like ‘The roaches took the kitchenette We just let it go.’ But the hooks in this chorus are blindingly good.

Get your geek on with any of these fine artists wherever geek rock is sold (hint – hit the hyperlinks for the e-store).

Photo: fragment of mast image from Ookla the Mok bandcamp page.