Cut You Explained

Cut You
Type:studio
Artist:Penelope Houston
Border:yes
Released:1996
Genre:Alternative rock
Label:Reprise[1]
Producer:Penelope Houston, Jeffrey Wood
Prev Title:Crazy Baby
Prev Year:1994
Next Title:Tongue
Next Year:1998

Cut You is an album by the American musician Penelope Houston, released in 1996.[2] [3] It is a mixture of rerecorded older songs and new songs. Cut You was Houston's major label debut; many of her previous albums had been available only in Germany.[4] [5] Houston promoted the album with North American and European tours.[6]

Production

Signed to Reprise Records by her old acquaintance Howie Klein, Houston composed six new songs, while adding more instrumentation to her rerecorded older ones.[7] The album was produced by Houston and Jeffrey Wood. Reprise asked Houston to withdraw "Cut You"; she instead made it the title track.[8] "Secret Sign" is about a run-in with a ex's new girlfriend.[9]

Critical reception

No Depression thought that Houston's songs "tend to involve many nameless, spiritually wiped-out characters captured in moments of particular drama ... instead of telling the whole story as a traditional folksinger might, Houston is more of a tour guide."[10] Trouser Press deemed the album "a solid cross-section of her material ... the playing and recording quality are absolutely vibrant and Houston sings as wonderfully as ever."[11] The Chicago Tribune concluded that Houston "goes well beyond empowerment, penning lyrics as smart as they are wicked." The Los Angeles Times wrote that "'Locket' glides along to a Latin-tinged beat while the title track, with its light country twang and darkly comic lyric, evokes a vindictive, post-punk incarnation of Patsy Cline."

Tulsa World stated that "the songs are built around intricate lyrical jabs and worldly insights."[12] The Washington Post determined that "what's most impressive about Cut You is Houston's vivid depictions of women who are attempting to square their reality with sometimes fading desires and dreams."[13] Rolling Stone opined that "Houston ties it together with gossamer vocals and lyrics that invert the accusations of punk."[14] The Boston Globe called the album "mature rock with punk roots, soft songs with sting."[15]

AllMusic wrote that the album "offers proof that Houston helped pioneer the melodic-yet-hard-hitting alternative rock currently mined by such performers as Liz Phair and Aimee Mann."

Notes and References

  1. Penelope Houston Cut You. CMJ New Music Monthly. April 30, 1996. CMJ Network, Inc.. September 30, 2021. September 30, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ii0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA14. live.
  2. Web site: Penelope Houston Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic. 2021-09-30. 2021-09-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/penelope-houston-mn0000309954/biography. live.
  3. Web site: Penelope Houston's Cut You Due in '96. MTV News. 2021-09-30. 2021-09-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/http://www.mtv.com/news/505851/penelope-houstons-cut-you-due-in-96/. dead.
  4. News: Semon . Craig S. . Penelope Houston looks at breakups, betrayals . Telegram & Gazette . 2 June 1996 . Datebook . 8.
  5. News: The Accidental Punk. February 24, 1999. SF Weekly. September 30, 2021. September 30, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130339/https://www.sfweekly.com/music/the-accidental-punk/. live.
  6. Bessman . Jim . Punk-rock veteran Penelope Houston lets loose 'Tongue' on Reprise . Billboard . Mar 27, 1999 . 111 . 13 . 16, 20.
  7. Borzillo . Carrie . Cutting Through . Billboard . Mar 2, 1996 . 108 . 9 . 18.
  8. News: The Great Avenger . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . 24 May 1996 . Arts & Entertainment . 18.
  9. News: Semon . Craig S. . Penelope Houston looks at breakups, betrayals . Telegram & Gazette . 2 June 1996 . Datebook . 8.
  10. Penelope Houston – Cut You . No Depression . 30 September 2021 . 30 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130339/https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/penelope-houston-cut-you/ . live .
  11. Web site: Penelope Houston . Trouser Press . 30 September 2021 . 30 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/https://trouserpress.com/reviews/penelope-houston/ . live .
  12. News: Penelope Houston Cut You. Tulsa World. 3 May 1996 . 2021-09-30. 2021-09-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130339/https://tulsaworld.com/archive/hootie-and-the-blowfish---fairweather-johnson---atlantic/article_37501215-f3c7-5e74-93e8-8a9e49c2fc57.html. live.
  13. News: Four Angry Women . The Washington Post . 30 September 2021 . 20 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211020175416/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1996/05/26/four-angry-women/94ad413c-4097-46e5-b3e2-fcc6e52d5923/ . live .
  14. Farber . Jim . Recording — Cut You by Penelope Houston . Rolling Stone . Apr 4, 1996 . 731 . 62.
  15. News: Sullivan . Jim . Penelope Houston Cut You . The Boston Globe . 8 Feb 1996 . Calendar . 30.