Liz Phair
whitechocolatespaceegg
(Matador)
For those of us who thought Exile in Guyville an offspring worthy of its namesake,
Whip Smart came off like Goats Head Soup'94 -- competent, certainly; listenable,
sure; a disappointment, definitely. But since the Stones had about a decade's worth of great
albums behind them by the time they slid from Rocks Off right into Dancing with Mr. D,
Liz's sophomore slump and her subsequent domestic hiatus naturally started rumors that perhaps
she'd put one over on us. Trend-hoppers won't bother listening, but whitechocolatespaceegg
proves she didn't. A distillation of Guyville's rangy, DIY songcraft and Whip Smart's pop pretensions,
whitechocolatespaceegg reveals Phair for the rock star she should -- but probably won't --
be. Lyrically, she's never been more imaginative or universalistic, even when you suspect a new
baby or a faltering marriage might be her own. And once songs like "Uncle Alvarez" or
"What Makes You Happy" or even the adventurous title track sink in, you notice the
inevitability of tunes that at first sounded pieced together. On whitechocolatespaceegg,
Phair
takes her cue from dozens of legendary rock careerists before
her and spreads
her wings without straying too far from the territory
she knows so well. Suddenly, the
blow-job queen who had us convinced
she'd fuck and run looks like she's in it for the long haul.
Rating: 9
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