(Herald rating:* * *)
Liz Phair It's now 10 years since American singer-songwriter Liz Phair became an alternative rock pin-up after her debut Exile in Guyville marked her out as a writer of wit and sexual frankness.
But her career quickly reached a plateau with subsequent releases.
So on this she's finally
abandoned her less-is-more indie approach for a lavish production care of the studio team behind Avril Lavigne as well as Pete Yorn and Michael Penn.
The result certainly makes Phair not sound like her old, quirky self with its full-bodied guitars, obvious hooks and grand choruses. There are moments when Phair manages to disarm without the extras — like the ballad Little Digger, about her son coping with mum's new bloke. But mostly, the entertainment factor here is hearing Phair sound like Avril's randy rocker auntie on the likes of Rock Me, H. W. C, or Favorite, especially as on that last one she delivers a lyric so bad — likening another chap to some comfy but tatty undergarments of hers — it might actually get her that long-awaited hit.
Label: Capitol
