Whipped

FASTER PUSSYCAT / WHIPPED - Any band that names itself after a Russ Meyer film has a reputation to uphold. And with tracks like "Big Dictionary" (get it?), the fourth track on their 1992 album Whipped!, Faster Pussycat did just that, along with other blasts of Sunset Strip braggadocio like "Out with a Bang" (not to mention the dominatrix on the front cover)! But a closer listen reveals a band hitting it's hard rock stride right at the wrong time, when grunge flannel was supplanting eyeliner and big hair in the hearts of American youth. The minor hit "Nonstop to Nowhere" had a classic, country-ish Stones vibe, and "Mr. Lovedog" was a heartfelt tribute to deceased Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood; those were just two highlights on an album that was funny, surprisingly varied, and tuneful. In short, Whipped! Got largely ignored in the wake of the early '90s Nirvana-inspired craze but it deserved a better fate.