{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Cut You | type = studio | artist = Penelope Houston | cover = Cut You.album.jpg|border=yes | alt = | released = 1996 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Alternative rock | length = | label = Reprise<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ii0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA14|title=Penelope Houston Cut You|magazine=CMJ New Music Monthly|date=April 30, 1996|publisher=CMJ Network, Inc.|access-date=September 30, 2021|archive-date=September 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ii0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA14|url-status=live}}</ref> | 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/penelope-houston-mn0000309954/biography|title=Penelope Houston Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-09-30|archive-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/penelope-houston-mn0000309954/biography|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/505851/penelope-houstons-cut-you-due-in-96/|title=Penelope Houston's Cut You Due in '96|website=MTV News|access-date=2021-09-30|archive-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/http://www.mtv.com/news/505851/penelope-houstons-cut-you-due-in-96/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is a mixture of rerecorded older songs and new songs.<ref name=ND/> ''Cut You'' was Houston's major label debut; many of her previous albums had been available only in Germany.<ref name="Telegram & Gazette">{{cite news |last1=Semon |first1=Craig S. |title=Penelope Houston looks at breakups, betrayals |work=Telegram & Gazette |date=2 June 1996 |department=Datebook |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sfweekly.com/music/the-accidental-punk/|title=The Accidental Punk|date=February 24, 1999|work=SF Weekly|access-date=September 30, 2021|archive-date=September 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130339/https://www.sfweekly.com/music/the-accidental-punk/|url-status=live}}</ref> Houston promoted the album with North American and European tours.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Bessman |first1=Jim |title=Punk-rock veteran Penelope Houston lets loose 'Tongue' on Reprise |magazine=Billboard |date=Mar 27, 1999 |volume=111 |issue=13 |pages=16, 20}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Borzillo |first1=Carrie |title=Cutting Through |magazine=Billboard |date=Mar 2, 1996 |volume=108 |issue=9 |page=18}}</ref> The album was produced by Houston and Jeffrey Wood.<ref name=MH/> Reprise asked Houston to withdraw "Cut You"; she instead made it the title track.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Great Avenger |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=24 May 1996 |department=Arts & Entertainment |page=18}}</ref> "Secret Sign" is about a run-in with a ex's new girlfriend.<ref name="Telegram & Gazette"/>
==Critical reception== {{music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/cut-you-mw0000647066|title=Cut You|website=AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com|access-date=2021-09-30|archive-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130341/https://www.allmusic.com/album/cut-you-mw0000647066|url-status=live}}</ref> |rev2 = ''Chicago Tribune'' |rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-06-27-9606270005-story.html|title=Penelope Houston Cut You|first=Brad|last=Webber|work=Chicago Tribune|date=27 June 1996 |access-date=2021-09-30|archive-date=2021-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020175402/https://www.chicagotribune.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> |rev3 = ''Los Angeles Times'' |rev3score = {{rating|3|4}}<ref name="LA">{{cite news |last1=Masuo |first1=Sandy |title=In Brief |work=Los Angeles Times |date=28 Apr 1996 |department=Calendar |page=66}}</ref> |rev4 = ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' |rev4score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=562}}</ref> }} ''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."<ref name="ND">{{cite magazine |title=Penelope Houston – Cut You |url=https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/penelope-houston-cut-you/ |magazine=No Depression |access-date=30 September 2021 |archive-date=30 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130339/https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/penelope-houston-cut-you/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''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."<ref name="TP">{{cite web |title=Penelope Houston |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/penelope-houston/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=30 September 2021 |archive-date=30 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130338/https://trouserpress.com/reviews/penelope-houston/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''Chicago Tribune'' concluded that Houston "goes well beyond empowerment, penning lyrics as smart as they are wicked."<ref name="auto1"/> 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."<ref name=LA/>
''Tulsa World'' stated that "the songs are built around intricate lyrical jabs and worldly insights."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tulsaworld.com/archive/hootie-and-the-blowfish---fairweather-johnson---atlantic/article_37501215-f3c7-5e74-93e8-8a9e49c2fc57.html|title=Penelope Houston Cut You|work=Tulsa World|date=3 May 1996 |access-date=2021-09-30|archive-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930130339/https://tulsaworld.com/archive/hootie-and-the-blowfish---fairweather-johnson---atlantic/article_37501215-f3c7-5e74-93e8-8a9e49c2fc57.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''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."<ref>{{cite news |title=Four Angry Women |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1996/05/26/four-angry-women/94ad413c-4097-46e5-b3e2-fcc6e52d5923/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=30 September 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020175416/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1996/05/26/four-angry-women/94ad413c-4097-46e5-b3e2-fcc6e52d5923/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' opined that "Houston ties it together with gossamer vocals and lyrics that invert the accusations of punk."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Farber |first1=Jim |title=Recording — Cut You by Penelope Houston |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=Apr 4, 1996 |issue=731 |page=62}}</ref> ''The Boston Globe'' called the album "mature rock with punk roots, soft songs with sting."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Jim |title=Penelope Houston Cut You |work=The Boston Globe |date=8 Feb 1996 |department=Calendar |page=30}}</ref>
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."<ref name="auto"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = | title1 = Secret Sign | length1 = | title2 = Sweetheart | length2 = | title3 = Scratch | length3 = | title4 = Locket | length4 = | title5 = Fuzzy Throne | length5 = | title6 = Ride | length6 = | title7 = Harry Dean | length7 = | title8 = Waiting Room | length8 = | title9 = Qualities of Mercy | length9 = | title10 = Fall Back | length10 = | title11 = Pull | length11 = | title12 = Glad I'm a Girl | length12 = | title13 = White Out | length13 = | title14 = Cut You | length14 = | total_length = }}
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Penelope Houston albums Category:1996 albums Category:Reprise Records albums