Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville proved that a debutante-attractive woman rocker singing about oral sex could earn the attention of the mostly male rock press corps. But Whitechocolatespaceegg confirms--much as her second album, Whip-Smart, attempted--that Phair can be a pop tunesmith as well. Her songs snap and crackle with giddy doses of '80s new wave, Buddy Holly pop, and Stones rock; her husky voice mostly overcomes its previous, potentially off-putting wobble. And while the clangy "Johnny Feelgood" recalls Phair's earlier tough-sex scenarios, "Polyester Bride," which eavesdrops on a conversation between an advice-giving bartender and a wide-eyed female patron (maybe this season's answer to Semisonic's "Closing Time"), is more demonstrative of Whitechocolatespaceegg's thematic maturation: less titillating but no less womanly. And no less feisty. --Neal Weiss