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Anyway, indie’s a matter of degree. Way back when she was allegedly more relevant, not everyone agreed she was so. In 1994, Reader critic Bill Wyman hosted a hilarious letters roundtable on the Chicago indie scene, inspired by Steve Albini’s assertion that Phair was “a fucking chore to listen to” and part of a trio of “pandering sluts” that also included contemporaries Urge Overkill and the Smashing Pumpkins. “Artists who survive on hype are often critic’s pets. They don’t, however, make timeless, classic music that survives trends and inspires generations of fans and other artists. There are artists in Chicago doing just that, but you don’t write about them.” Much vitriol ensued. As someone who was 13 and way far away from Chicago during the Guyville era, it’s like straight Margaret Mead to me.
I highly recommend the biographical site Wild and Unwise, particularly the chapters College and Girlysound, which capture the postcollegiate urban boho atmosphere Phair emerged out of. The fame of the subject aside, it’s an amazing time capsule of a certain class at a certain time: “In San Francisco it was all kernels of ideas, but nothing ever happened.”
