Liz Phair – Brutal Truth

Screw music critics! I picked up Liz Phair‘s new, self-titled CD yesterday. A big fan of all of her past efforts (Whip-Smart, whitechocolatespaceegg and the ground-breaking Exile in Guyville), I was intrigued by all of the negative, pre-release hype from the music press about Phair selling out because she chose to work with pop-record gurus The Matrix. Like so many things these days, wanting to make a living doing something you love seems to be crime. Pardon my bluntness, but that is bullshit.

Yes, these songs have a considerably more polished feel to them than previous efforts. But, naysayers neglect to mention this polish applies to all of the songs on the album, not just the four cuts produced by The Matrix. Phair turned to them for 4 of 14 tracks. The rest were produced by Michael Penn, R. Walt Vincent or Phair herself. Moreover, those four tracks (Extraordinary, Why Cant I?, Rock Me and Favorite) do not stand out as overly glossy when compared to the rest of the album. In fact, the entire album is thematically sound.

As for claims that Phair is trying to be an older Avril Lavigne or Michelle Branch, please give me a break. No disrespect to these bright young stars, but they cannot hold a candle to Phair. If any established female artist is pandering to youth, it is Jewel; whose new album, 0304, appears to be weak, over-produced kiddie-pop more in the Britney Spears vein. This is truly a shame, because Jewel has too much talent to waste.

Besides, Phair is still raw. Her lyrics remain gritty, introspective and brutally honest. Think I am kidding? Listen to H.W.C., Favorite and Bionic Eyes, then come talk to me. Moreover, Phair’s music remains … at the core … stripped-down, in-your-face rock-n-roll. Granted, the arrangements are a bit more slick, but this should be no surprise. One of the things that makes Phair great is her ability to take an established form and turns it on it’s ear with a knowing wink. See "Exile in Guyville".

Clearly, I love this album. It is one of the best releases to grace my CD player in years. I hope this album accomplishes it’s apparent goal and adds commercial success to Phair’s already hefty indie-cred. It is about time the rest of the world had the opportunity to discover Liz Phair.