# Cut You
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_You
> Source revision: 1290904102
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Cut You
| type = studio
| artist = [Penelope Houston](/source/Penelope_Houston)
| cover = Cut You.album.jpg|border=yes
| alt =
| released = 1996
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = [Alternative rock](/source/Alternative_rock)
| length =
| label = [Reprise](/source/Reprise_Records)[{{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}}]
| 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](/source/Penelope_Houston), released in 1996.[{{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}}][{{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}}] 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.][{{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}}][{{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}}] Houston promoted the album with North American and European tours.[{{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}}]
==Production==
Signed to [Reprise Records](/source/Reprise_Records) by her old acquaintance [Howie Klein](/source/Howie_Klein), Houston composed six new songs, while adding more instrumentation to her rerecorded older ones.[{{cite magazine |last1=Borzillo |first1=Carrie |title=Cutting Through |magazine=Billboard |date=Mar 2, 1996 |volume=108 |issue=9 |page=18}}] The album was produced by Houston and Jeffrey Wood.[ Reprise asked Houston to withdraw "Cut You"; she instead made it the title track.][{{cite news |title=The Great Avenger |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=24 May 1996 |department=Arts & Entertainment |page=18}}] "Secret Sign" is about a run-in with a ex's new girlfriend.[{{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}}]
|rev2 = ''[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)''
|rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}[{{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}}]
|rev3 = ''[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)''
|rev3score = {{rating|3|4}}[{{cite news |last1=Masuo |first1=Sandy |title=In Brief |work=Los Angeles Times |date=28 Apr 1996 |department=Calendar |page=66}}]
|rev4 = ''[MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide](/source/MusicHound)''
|rev4score = {{rating|3.5|5}}[{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=562}}]
}}
''[No Depression](/source/No_Depression_(magazine))'' 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."[{{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 }}] ''[Trouser Press](/source/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."[{{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 }}] The ''[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)'' concluded that Houston "goes well beyond empowerment, penning lyrics as smart as they are wicked."[
''[Tulsa World](/source/Tulsa_World)'' stated that "the songs are built around intricate lyrical jabs and worldly insights."][{{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}}] ''[The Washington Post](/source/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."[{{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 }}] ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)'' opined that "Houston ties it together with gossamer vocals and lyrics that invert the accusations of punk."[{{cite magazine |last1=Farber |first1=Jim |title=Recording — Cut You by Penelope Houston |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=Apr 4, 1996 |issue=731 |page=62}}] ''[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)'' called the album "mature rock with punk roots, soft songs with sting."[{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Jim |title=Penelope Houston Cut You |work=The Boston Globe |date=8 Feb 1996 |department=Calendar |page=30}}]
[AllMusic](/source/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."