Liz Phair

April 14, 2003

Anybody remember her? The freshman ferocity of Exile in Guyville seems so long ago, and it was. Since whitechocolatespaceegg, the last thing I heard from Phair was her backing vocals on the ubiquitous “Soak Up the Sun” from Sheryl Crow. I’m still trying to forget about that, but they’ll play it in every mall I’ll ever walk into for the rest of my life, apparently.

She’s back and she’s got some songs on her website. “Extraordinary” starts off with a riff that seemingly belongs to her Capitol label-mates Queens of the Stone Age, before settling down into a more familiar sound, including a layered wet/dry vocal and a quirky two part chorus. “Why Can’t I” sounds off for some reason, like a good version of Avril Lavigne, but it’s still Avrilesque… if that makes any sense. “Rock Me” fares a bit better, a Phair song with a drum machine verse and a soaring chorus that sounds like the better parts of Billy Corgan’s writing. She remains talented at taunting me, as she mentions how she wants to “Play X-Box on my floor.” Whatta tease.

Anyway, welcome back. 2/3 ain’t bad, and hopefully the full album’s strong.

“Extraordinary”
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“Why Can’t I”
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“Rock Me”
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Posted in From Blown Speakers