Exile in Guyville

hmm the weather is too hot to thiink about a reason for the 2 stars

Some songs are really good, others are fine. The album as a whole gets boring at times. I think the best songs elevate the album, though.

All of these songs sound the same and are just so blah AND the album is soooooo long. This was not a good rainy Monday morning at work listen.

It's funny: I've heard songs from this album, but never connected them to her 2003 album (not that I heard anything besides the singles from that one either). I wouldn't have expected them to be the same artist, but I haven't paid enough attention before to notice. It's an interesting evolution. This album hits more squarely for me, with its clear early 90s sound.

Not my thing. Found the voice quite annoying after a while. Sounded exactly like the 90s it is from.

A lovely album about negotiating crappy relationships in your twenties

The 2018 remaster on spotify doesn't do it justice. I prefer the denser, hissier, lo-fi version on my old tape.

Can't believe haven't heard this before, so so good. Ignore the morons saying Phair can't sing

"you're probably shy and introspective/that's not part of my objective"

Pretty boring, probably because the "low fi" production makes all the notes barely audible.

it's like an old-school less-interesting version of Courtney Barnett.

I enjoyed the clever lyricism. Liz can write a song.

Some good stuff, some undercooked stuff. It's got spirit though. Spirit goes a long way.

Pretty nice.

jako dobro! malo mi je vrludalo, nekako sve skupa između trojke i četvorke, ali zbog nekih snažnijih stvari (fuck and run; flower) dat ću četvorku

fun listen! awesome vibes and i love the lyrics as well #awesome #forthegirls Fuck and Run song of the year 2026 i <3 it and the whole album

Perfect rock record

Høres ut som proto-Courtney Barnett og det er jo kult. Til tider høres det også ut som indieversjonen av college rock og andre ganger litt grungete.

Hiten "Fuck And Run" får meg til å tenke på The Only Ones og er en av låtene jeg liker best sammen med åpningssporet og "Divorce Song".

Det som drar plata ned er at den kunne vært strammet opp. Flere låter virker som bare er med for å fylle opp CD-en. Kanskje særlig "Flower" føles malplassert.

I had never heard of Liz Phair before, and after listening to “Exile in Guysville,” it doesn't seem like I've missed out on much. I'm generally wary of singer-songwriters who accompany themselves on electric guitar but just strum chords. Furthermore, Liz Phair offers neither a particularly expressive voice nor truly catchy songs, and certainly no sophisticated arrangements. “Exile in Guysville” is certainly not a bad album, but I can’t think of many reasons why it should be known worldwide. It’s also telling that the Wikipedia entry is available in only four languages. Liz Phair’s success seems to be a phenomenon limited to America—perhaps she resonated with certain parts of the country music scene. From a European perspective, however, I don’t consider this album particularly relevant.

Long. Boring. Shit.

I’m a straight white man who married his high school girlfriend and we live in the suburbs with two kids.

But we won’t get along unless you can comfortably sing along to “Fuck and Run.”

Whether you take it literally or not, if you have anything in your life about which you can say “even when I was seventeen, even when I was twelve” … welcome home.

I’ve been listening to this album for decades (not since I was 12, alas) and I am still learning from its stories, its perversity, its understatement, its honesty.

Maybe I’ll find something more to say to honor it, but I doubt it — maybe if I report back in another decade.

2/18/26 - Listened during work. Probably would have loved this when I was in high school or college. Definitely feel early Death Cab for Cutie was inspired by this album.

Best Song - Never Said