PJ Harvey - Rid of Me

Love it or fear it, Rid of Me is the record on which Polly Jean Harvey burrows deepest into herself. 'When I listen to {my first album} Dry', she says, 'I feel like I sound really young - full of young energy and life. Rid of Me is a bit harder, as I'd had a few more disappointments. There's quite a lot more anger.' Opening her relationship wounds. Harvey explores neediness (I'll make you lick my injuries') with the same intensity the punk forefathers had brought to emotional estrangement, imagining herself as Eve, Mary Magdalene, and even Jane of the jungle in the menstrual-themed 'Me Jane' ('Tarzan, can't you see I'm bleeding / Stop your fucking screaming'). And her raw howl turns arrestingly sweet to deliver the ultimate female kiss-off: 'You leave me dry.'
By the way, she rocked harder than any woman ever, as furious with a guitar as she was on the mic. Rid of Me's scuzzy, abrasive sound was controversial, engineered for maximum friction by Steve Albini. Some fans, including Courtney Love, prefer the alternate versions Harvey released on 1994's 4-Track Demos. 'That's such a beautiful, raw, four-in-the-morning, I'm-doing-this-for-my-fucking-self thing,' Love says. Harvey's follow-up, To Bring You My Love, gave her demons more Springsteenian outreach. But Albini's intransigence puts Rid of Me's songs into all-too-appropriate bondage gear, and the album remains a landmark.

Eric Weisbard

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