Liz Phair

When former indie-rock icon Liz Phair—whose 1992 Exile in Guyville inspired a few young women to pick up guitars—unleashed her newest set of songs this summer, the howls of bespectacled record geeks could be heard from Brooklyn to San Francisco. Her sin? Letting Capitol’s president, Andy Slater, talk her into cutting four songs with the Matrix, the songwriting and production team behind Avril Lavigne. Those tracks—including the Boston-esque power ballad “Why Can’t I” (which has a stunning video) and “Extraordinary”—are the worst of the lot. Aside from them and “H.W.C.,” a bouncy ode to the joys of bukkake facials, there are a few decent tracks, including the touching single-mom-introduces-junior-to-new-beau ballad “Little Digger.” Still, a classic misfire.