Girly-Sound to Guyville is Liz’s first-ever box set collection, and it’s appropriate that it would feature the most complete collection of her long sought-after early Girly-Sound recordings.
The original Girly-Sound tapes were recorded by Phair privately in her bedroom during various sessions during the beginning of the 90s and they essentially laid the blueprint for what eventually became her critically-hailed debut album, Exile in Guyville.
The original cassettes were copied and distributed over many years—in most cases, shared as only two cassettes yielding different tracklistings, making it all the more difficult to truly know the original sequencing. To make things even more confusing, the precise tracklisting of the elusive third tape made fans wonder if there were songs that had never even been widely shared (and their assumptions were correct).
Some of the Girly-Sound tracks were peppered into Phair’s official releases in some way over the years, notably on the single for Supernova (“Combo Platter” — which was a mashup of three different tracks), the Juvenilia EP, and Funstyle, but the Girly-Sound to Guyville box set is the first time that fans have been able to own the nearly complete set—entirely remastered.
Of the original 40 Girly-Sound songs, only two are missing: “Fuck or Die” and “Shatter.” Both were omitted due to licensing issues, as “Fuck or Die” borrows heavily from Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line,” and “Shatter” from the Rolling Stones’ “Shattered.”
The Girly-Sound to Guyville box set included four LPs, featuring the three Girly-Sound cassettes and the remastered version of Exile in Guyville, a 3-CD set, and a nostalgic 3-cassette set, along with an oversized booklet which went into great detail about the genesis of Phair’s earlier career, filled with interviews and quotes from prominent people during that era, including Brad Wood, Gerard Cosloy, and Tae Won Yu.
To celebrate the release of the box set, Phair embarked on an eight-city tour where she played selections of her Girly-Sound tracks.
Girly-Sound to Guyville
Released: May 4, 2018
Label: Matador (OLE 1305-1)
Format: Vinyl 4-LP, 3-CD, Cassette, Digital
Country: US
Availability: Somewhat Rare
Yo Yo Buddy Yup Yup Word to Ya Muthuh
Some tracks are listed along with aliases of what the songs were commonly referred to prior to this collection being officially released.
All songs written by Liz Phair.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| A-1. | White Babies a.k.a. Black Market White Baby Dealer | 3:06 |
| A-2. | Shane | 4:46 |
| A-3. | 6 Dick Pimp a.k.a. Willie, the Six Dick Pimp | 3:19 |
| A-4. | Divorce Song | 3:47 |
| A-5. | Go West | 3:23 |
| A-6. | Don’t Holdyrbreath a.k.a. If I Ever Pay You Back | 3:59 |
| A-7. | Johnny Sunshine | 3:51 |
| B-1. | Miss Lucy | 2:18 |
| B-2. | Elvis Song | 4:56 |
| B-3. | Dead Shark | 3:24 |
| B-4. | One Less Thing | 4:38 |
| B-5. | Money a.k.a. Shitloads of Money | 3:36 |
| B-6. | In Love w/ Yself a.k.a. In Love With Yourself | 3:58 |
GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS
All songs written by Liz Phair except:
“Hello Sailor” features interpolations of “I’m A Little Teapot” which was written by Clarence Kelly and George H. Sanders.
“Wild Thing” written by Chip Taylor with adaptations by Liz Phair.
“Easy Target” features interpolations of “Do You Love Me” written by Berry Gordy, Jr. and “It’s In His Kiss” written by Rudy Clark.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| A-1. | Hello Sailor | 5:57 |
| A-2. | Wild Thing | 3:41 |
| A-3. | Fuck and Run | 4:31 |
| A-4. | Easy Target | 5:04 |
| A-5. | Soap Star Joe | 3:23 |
| A-6. | Ant in Alaska | 7:11 |
| A-7. | GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS | 6:56 |
| B-1. | Polyester Bride | 7:39 |
| B-2. | Thrax | 4:35 |
| B-3. | Miss Mary Mack | 4:32 |
| B-4. | Clean a.k.a. Never Said | 3:59 |
| B-5. | Love Song | 6:20 |
| B-6. | Valentine | 4:15 |
| B-7. | Shatter | 6:51 |
Sooty
All songs written by Liz Phair except:
“Slave” features an interpolation of “Head On” by James Reid and William Reid.
“Whip-Smart” features a chorus by Malcolm McLaren.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| A-1. | Gigolo a.k.a. Can’t Get Out Of What I’m Into | 3:25 |
| A-2. | Flower | 2:48 |
| A-3. | Batmobile | 3:10 |
| A-4. | Slave a.k.a. Sometimes a Dream (Is What Makes You a Slave) | 3:50 |
| A-5. | Open Season | 2:59 |
| A-6. | Whip-Smart | 3:30 |
| B-1. | Suckerfish a.k.a. Go Speed Racer | 1:49 |
| B-2. | California | 2:51 |
| B-3. | South Dakota | 4:21 |
| B-4. | Bomb a.k.a. Stratford-On-Guy | 3:21 |
| B-5. | Easy | 3:16 |
| B-6. | Chopsticks | 2:00 |
Re-worked Songs
The Girly-Sound tapes also served as a great resource for Liz to fall back on when recording future albums, as many of her original songs were later re-recorded for her official albums and other compilations.
Below is a list of songs that have been re-worked or reimagined and where they can be heard.
| Re-Recorded | Album/Release | Year |
|---|---|---|
| “White Babies” | Chinny Chin Chin: 4 N.Y. Bands | 1991 |
| “Divorce Song” Johnny Sunshine Fuck and Run Soap Star Joe “Girls! Girls! Girls!” “Clean” (“Never Said”) “Shatter” “Flower” | Exile in Guyville | 1993 |
| “Ant in Alaska” “Wild Thing” | Exile in Guyville (reissue) | 1993* |
| “Chopsticks” “Shane” “Go West” “Thrax” (“Jealousy”) “Whip-Smart” | Whip-Smart | 1994 |
| “Six Dick Pimp” | Brain Candy | 1995 |
| “Tell Me You Like Me” | WCSE Sessions | 1996 |
| “Shitloads of Money” “Polyester Bride” | whitechocolatespaceegg | 1998 |
| “Gigolo” (“Can’t Get Out What I’m Into”) | Somebody’s Miracle | 2005 |
- “Ant in Alaska” and “Wild Thing” were both re-recorded for Exile in Guyville in 1992/1993, but did not appear until the 2008 reissue; “Wild Thing” only appeared on advanced promotional copies of the reissue, likely due to licensing issues.
- The verses in “Thrax” were re-used in “Jealousy,” featured on Whip-Smart. The interludes were rewritten and used for “Tell Me You Like Me,” recorded during the whitechocolatespaceegg sessions, but never officially released.
- “Gigolo” was re-recorded and re-named as “Can’t Get Out of What I’m Into” for Somebody’s Miracle, though the song was only included on the Japanese release and advanced promotional copies.
Reception
Girly-Sound to Guyville received largely very positive reviews, as the Girly-Sound tracks have long been coveted by fans since the beginning of her career—especially since the audio quality on this particular set has never been better.
Additional Reading
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