Liz Phair - "Help Me Mary"
Liz Phair - "Divorce Song"

My dad had to buy new razors for his electric shaver and return something at Sears so I tagged along to the Carlingwood Mall. It was the end of the year and I was flush with Christmas money, so while he ran errands I went into Sam the Record Man. I flipped through the rows of tapes in oversized plastic display cases, click-click, clickclickclick. I was over halfway through the alternative rock section when I found it: Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville. I picked it up, excited. In 1993 all I really had to go on was Spin magazine, which I bought at the strip mall near my house and read obsessively. This was their record of the year. Ahead of In Utero, ahead of Siamese Dream. The tape cost something ridiculous, like $13.99, but I held it tight. It was on an actual independent label! One of the song titles had a swear word! What was that photo on the cover? Even though I had no idea what this music sounded like I knew it was important. I bought the tape then found my dad, and we drove home through the dark winter afternoon. And then I listened to that tape for five months straight.

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