LIZ
PHAIR
Exile in Guyville [Reissue]
ATO Records 2008
www.lizphair.com
Genre
Alternative / grunge
The Good
A simple yet effective riff draws you in on "6'1." Phair's warbling vocals
have a punk feel to them, and at times can be melodic. "Help Me Mary" is
about conforming to others tastes just to win them over. However, Liz is
not to pleased with having to do it. "Never Said" has a commercial radio
appeal to it. "Soap Star Joe" tales the tale of either someone Phair had
a crush on or someone she knew well. "Fuck and Run" is about rejection
and how Liz longs for a long-term relationship rather then one after the
other. "Flower" is the song that Phair is known for. At least with males
that were horny teenagers in the 90s. No female artist was really saying
what Phair says, but Phair is going for more of a personal monologue than
shock value. As part of the reissue, Phair includes three b-side track
that are a bit trippy and scatter-brained, but worth it if your a fan.
The Bad
On "Dance of the Seven Vails" Phair's vocals don't seem to be able to
stay on tempo with her guitar work. Most of the instrumentals seem like
filler for an album that had very short songs to begin with. Unless you
love 'making of' featurettes, the bonus DVD is pretty worthless.
The Verdict
I missed Exile in Guyville the first time around because I hated grunge.
Absolutely hated it. Now that I'm older, I'm a little more receptive to
different kinds of music. However, Phair reminded me why I hated grunge
to begin with. I have to give Liz high marks for the personal emotions
and experiences that she put forth in her lyrics, but that doesn't make
up for the mundane, off-key, off-tempo, uninspiring, and outright boring
music that goes along with it. As with most grunge artists, Phair sounds
like she just knows the basics of the guitar. Her singing (more like talking)
isn't exactly that great either.
The lyric 'I want to be your blow job queen' from "Flower" is going to haunt
her forever. Let's face it, it's constantly brought up when referring to
this album. So what? She has a dirty mind. We all do. But yet, it got horny
teenagers listening. Once guys listened to the rest of the album, they weren't
so interested. Once it was all said and done Phair went on to try to become
a better musician
and
artist.
Get
what
all
the guys
want
to
hear
about? Is Liz still selling albums today?
One has to wonder if Phair was such the musical pioneer that they make her
out to be when critics and artists refer to Exile in Guyville, or was she
just a sub-par musician that said something naughty that no other female
was doing at the time to get people to listen. Well, the answer is simple...who's
listening to her now?
LIZ
PHAIR
