Liz Phair "Whip-Smart" CD (1994)

Details: Liz Phair's 1994 follow-up album to her debut, Exile In Guyville, co-released by Matador Records/Atlantic Records. Great condition used item.

Description: "Dissecting the themes Phair knows best, Whip-Smart is a loose concept album about the inevitable stages of a relationship that she described as: “meeting the guy, falling for him, getting him and not getting him, going through the disillusionment period, saying “F__k it,’ and leaving, coming back to it.”

Whip-Smart builds upon the foundation set forth by her debut, capturing the same intimate, DIY style but with slicker arrangements, multi-layered vocals, and experimental sound effects. Phair was never a belter, but that’s a part of her appeal. Her lower register has become her signature, but her delivery always seemed to signify shored-up emotion rather than cool detachment.

While many of the tracks on the final album (specifically “Chopsticks,” “Shane,” “Go West,” ‘Whip-Smart’ and parts of ‘Jealousy’) were written back in 1991 under her previous Girly-Sound name, Whip-Smart is far more 90s power-pop than her first offering. The album’s lead single, ‘Supernova’, dominated alt-rock radio and MTV that year, and greatly introduced the once indie darling to more mainstream audiences, even earning Phair her first Grammy nomination. Despite being an anthemic pop-rock love song, “Supernova” still contained snarky lyrics like, “And your lips are sweet and slippery, like a cherub’s bare wet, ass” and more explicit lines that speak to her romantic partner’s expertise.

Like Guyville, Whip-Smart was also self-produced, with the help of co-producer and drummer-bassist Brad Wood. From the music videos to the propagandist cover art, Phair remained firmly in the director’s seat for all aspects of the album. Whether she’s reflecting on a one-night stand to the tune of the traditional waltz “Chopsticks” or invoking the official slogan of America’s westward expansion in ‘Go West’, to get over an ex, her unflinching honesty and confessional songwriting are why an entire generation so strongly identified with her, and why she forever looms large as the indie-rock queen of the 90s."--uDiscoverMusic

Grade: NM (CD/Cover)

CD TRACK LISTING:

1. Chopsticks
2. Supernova
3. Support System
4. X-Ray Man
5. Shane
6. Nashville
7. Go West
8. Cinco De Mayo
9. Dogs Of L.A.
10. Whip-Smart
11. Jealousy
12. Crater Lake
13. Alice Springs
14. May Queen