AsiaBrew's Full Review: Exile in Guyville [PA] by Liz Phair
It seems that in the past few decades sex just naturally leads to frustration, whether you’re getting it or not. Now as happy as I am for Madonna and her sermons of post-feminist sexuality and “Be Smart, Be Sexy, Be Deep” all at once , not all of us feel that Madonna is encompassing the entire spectrum of sexuality, not in her heyday anyway. You can’t have sex without relationships, no matter how brief and mediocre. Sex on it’s own is not nearly as intriguing as sex paired together with a relationship.
That’s what makes Exile in Guyville such an engrossing album, it’s stuffed to gills with all the true upsides and downsides of being involved with someone, but still glistens with pearls of hope. But what is probably most impressive about the album is how Liz Phair owns up to her part in her misadventures. It’s very rare for someone to not offer up an alibi for their whereabouts during the demise of their relationship. The album is simple and lo-fi which helps to add to the upfront nature of the whole. But don't be put off, it's just as engaging as any slickly produced record you can think of.
From her vantage point in “6’1” she can verbally criticize the male version of a slut in the same vein women tend to criticize women who do the same. She prides herself in the fact that she has not fallen victim to this charming man’s physical gifts and she’s all the more taller for it. This song just has the most instant hook to it which is great because it’s at the very beginning of the album and allows you to get into the album easier.
“Help Me Mary” has got to have the smartest and most insightful lyrics I’ve heard in a rock album in a while. Although the action seems to take place in a frat house or some home inhabited by mostly males, it can be any place where a person feels out of place and tries their best to fit in. In this case it’s Liz trying to be more appealing and therefore more “male” to a bunch of guys. She tries to fit in
The most important song on the album to me is “Divorce Song” I has to be the most honest representation of the end of a relationship. I played the album in my friend’s car, it’d been the first time he had ever heard Liz Phair and after the song was over he repeated it again. It just got to him that much because it’s that true. He also liked “Flower” and asked me “Is she single?” and dubbed her his “soulmate”. Once you hear it you’ll laugh at that.
“F*ck and Run” is a pretty popular track even by those who never owned the album cause it’s one of those titles you can’t correctly write in a review. Believe me there isn’t anything racy in the song that the title would make you think, (re:Flower). It’s a story that I’m sure a couple people have found themselves in. A woman who has found herself so far removed from the daydreams and fantasies of her youth and wakes up in yet another bed with someone she never intended ending up in bed with.
One of my pet tracks has to be “Shatter”. There’s about a minute of nothing but guitar and feedback noise but it sounds so hypnotic and calming you stick around till Liz comes up. The whole album is full of confessional style, honest lyrics and this one is one of the beautiful but melancholy examples of it. Imagine a woman who really doesn’t have such great respect for herself and finally discovers someone who makes her see the error of her ways. Then being so in love with them but doubting what they could ever offer that person anything of themselves that would be worth what he gave her. .. and yet maybe you could. Just the whole flow and feel of this song is so fluid that you have no other just but to get pulled along with it.
Exile in Guyville is the medicine to the disease that is basic teen pop. Give me a minute, I have a more thoughtful reason for that statement. I’ve met a lot of virgins who grew up with a skewed perception of what having a sex life entailed, and when they finally lost their virginity they didn’t realized all the new baggage that would be left on their doorstep. Britney’s a “virgin” so she’s not gonna give you any warning of the realities of having a sex life. It’s great to hypothesize, but it’s even better to be lectured by someone who’s had experience. You may think it’s not quite sane to be preaching the depth of music and it’s relation to finding meaning in your life. You may think kids are smart enough to discern the difference. Maybe, but people like to fantasize and sometimes they tend to forget to exercise reality. Exile in Guyville is their Reality Stairmaster.
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