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Whip-Smart, Phair’s September 1994 major-label debut, followed on the heels of her galvanizing, indie-released grrrl-power manifesto, June 1993’s critically acclaimed Exile in Guyville.
Whip-Smart, co-produced by Phair and Brad Wood (Pete Yorn, Sunny Day Real Estate), built on the patented “Girly-Sound” alter-ego promise of Exile with the hard-hitting and quite unapologetic lust in the groove of Supernova, the green-eyed percussive sneer of Jealousy, and the minimalist burble of the title track, which repeatedly namechecks the chorus of Malcolm McLaren’s joyous 1983 new-wave ode to jump-rope gymnastics, Double Dutch.