whitechocolatespaceegg August 11, 1998

One of modern rock’s most cherished artists, credited with everything from Alanis Morissette to my love life, Liz Phair returns triumphantly to the world of music with her first new album since 1994’s half-million-selling Whip-Smart. whitechocolatespaceegg is at once her most interesting and assured record, full of all the candor, insight, and chunky riffage you’ve come to expect, along with some surprises.

Produced in separate but equal parts by Liz herself, Scott Litt (REM), and Brad Wood (the previous two Liz albums), whitechocolatespaceegg is something of a leap from the homespun intimacy of her other work. Its sweeping sound is fleshed out with liberal use of keyboards and organ, ranging from the sultry shimmy of the title track to “Polyester Bride,” perhaps Liz’s first perfect pop song. The lyrics, too, run the gamut from the conversational ramble for which she is perhaps best known (“What Makes You Happy”) to a less literal, more oblique approach (“Big Tall Man”). Fans of her honest, brash sexuality will of course be thrilled by hits like “Johnny Feelgood” (“I never realized I was so dirty and dry/’Til he knocked me down, started dragging me around in the back of his convertible car/And I liked it”), while songs like “Perfect World” have a longing and delicacy which Liz has rarely afforded herself in the past.

Liz Phair has been plenty busy in the four years since ‘Whip-Smart,’ during which time she’s seen the creative and commercial climate for female artists flourish under her influence. The time between records allowed her to choose only the best from a wealth of material, as opposed to the more by-the-seat-of-her-pants attack of the previous two records. She still lives in her hometown of Chicago.

While in the past Liz has only toured sporadically, and even then often doing solo acoustic performances, she will be touring with a full band for this album, first on several Lilith Fair dates this summer (July 15 through mid-August), then full international touring beginning in September.

Juvenilia August 8, 1995

“Jealousy”

one... one... one cause you’ve got me and
two... two... two cause you owe me and
three... three... three, she’s attractive
and four, four, four, we’re at dinner
and five, five, insecure five
cause it’s six, six, six and the winner takes everything everything everything!

“Turning Japanese”

A video? Jim Ellison thinks we should put these round TV screen helmets on our heads and rock in front of a sea of bouncing hip-hop cars (low riders) so that our faces — singing vocalsm — can turn into anything we want. But then he asked me if I knew what the song was really about, and then explained that it’s about this guy who is locked away in prison and has covered his walls with photos of a woman about which he masturbates and hence “turns Japanese” because his face is contorting as he climaxes.

Ok.

Or we could be these UFO abductee people that discover they have alien implantations and have to break their own noses to get them out.

“Animal Girl”

is about growing out of puberty and needing gratification. It’s also about a situational romance that never seemed to happen on the days when I was free. This song is for Lotje Ijzermans, VPRO personality, who is an inspiration of a dame. I wanted to be her and live in Amsterdam.

“California”

seven, seven, seven out of money
and eight, eight, eight I can’t believe I dated you and
nine, nine, I forget what nine is but
then ten, ten, ten I’m a loser at everything everything everything!
just then,

“South Dakota”

Totally juvenile, embarrassing, and all of that, but there’s no getting around a spooky atmosphere. I think I’m Iggy Pop and I’m writing ‘Funhouse.’

“Batmobile”

My family nickname is Bats, Batty, etc... don’t ask. A combination of an old Dentyne commercial (“Hellooooo Betty!”) and the obvious. Anyway, most of this Girlysound music was written while I was still in high school or early college, and getting out from under the influence of my parents seemed like a do or damned proposition.

“Dead Shark”

Because my friend Nina pointed out that a shark is like a relationship; it has to keep moving or it will die.

Lastly, one of my favorites, “Easy”

I used to pretend that my grandfather, who died when I was eight or so, was hanging around, watching out for me. When I got older, I would imagine that if you blew off a friend or a boyfriend, that their presence would continue to haunt you, as if you had killed them and they wanted revenge. ‘American Werewolf in London’ was helpful in solidifying this paranoia.

Ciao!

Whip Smart September 15, 1994

“Supernova” July 23, 1994

The first single off ‘Whip-Smart’ and an otherwise unreleased experimental mess on the b-side, “Combo Platter.” The CD5 also has the radio-edit of “Supernova.”

Exile in Guyville June 24, 1993

Born and raised in one of the most upscale parts of Chicago, Liz Phair’s parents brought up their daughter in a home with a serious liberal arts approach in child development. Says Liz Phair:

“There was really no way for me to rebel against my parents. My father provided me with my very own subscription to the Evergreen Reader by the time I turned ten. My mother used to read aloud from Henry Miller’s ‘Sexus’ and the Victorian erotic magazine ‘The Pearl’ when I brought boys over during my teens. My form of teen rebellion— which incidentally took a while for me to perfect — was to get heavily involved with the scientology group at my high school. I moved out of my parents’ house the same day I turned 21 to join my boyfriend at the time, a Canadian hazardous waste engineer, when his job relocated him to San Francisco.”

Ms. Phair likes to refer to her Bay Area stay as her “lost years.” When push came to shove during the phone conversation I had with Liz Phair to prepare this bio, she refused to go into detail about the time in San Francisco. “Just tell them that I experimented with a lot of different lifestyles, OK?” Further inquiries revealed nothing. This woman literally has no recorded past. No bank account, no credit card, no old friends (or none willing to speak).

After her return to Chicago circa Christmas of 1990 (exact dates are kind of muddy and Liz won’t help me at all), she immediately got heavily involved in music. On a dare, she began producing a string of cassettes under the moniker Girly Sound, which circulated through the efforts of Tae Won Yu (Kicking Giant) and Chris Brokaw (Come), who were the only two direct recipients of the tapes. These two gentlemen started dubbing copies for their music-industry weasel friends, which stirred up a barrage of hype that resulted in Gerard Cosloy of Matador approaching Liz with a recording contract. After lengthy negotiations, she agreed to come out of her basement and actually meet him over coffee. The contract was signed the same day, but only after Ms. Phair’s wish to receive all of the advance money in cash was fulfilled.

The album ‘Exile in Guyville’ was recorded at Idful Studios in Chicago in the summer of 1992, co-produced with her drummer and bass player Brad Wood. Guitarist Casey Rice throws in a riff or two. “The guys just fuckin’ rip,” says Ms. Phair.