Bikini Kill: Kathleen Hanna, Kathi Wilcox (vocals, bass); Tobi Vail (vocals, drums); Billy Karren (guitar). Recorded in October 1992. Bikini Kill's first "proper" record blasts by in a searing 25 minutes. Though improving greatly on the production quality of the band's earlier efforts, PUSSY WHIPPED still subscribes to the "everything louder than everything else" theory of sound sculpting. That said, the production convincingly adds a brittle immediacy to the record that only serves to raise the album's emotional stakes. The standouts here are "Alien She," which is sung as a particularly gruesome lullaby while the music crunches and lurches awkwardly in the foreground; "Speed Heart," featuring a paint-peeling guitar that starts slow but works up to terminal velocity over the song's brief length; "Rebel Girl," re-recorded from YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, which here gets a jacked up drums and an added searing from the guitars; and "For Tammy Rae," which, given the fury that precedes it, is a surprisingly moving love song. The best track, though, is the one and a half-minute "Star-Bellied Boy," one of the most blunt and moving evocations of sexual frustration ever recorded--and Kathleen Hanna's vocals here will raise the hair on your arms. PUSSY WHIPPED is probably the best entry into the Bikini Kill oeuvre.

1. Blood One
2. Alien She
3. Magnet
4. Speed Heart
5. Lil Red
6. Tell Me So
7. Sugar
8. Star Bellied Boy
9. Hamster Baby
10. Rebel Girl
11. Star Fish
12. For Tammy Rae