After debuting as lead vocalist of San Franciscos first punk band of note, the Avengers, Penelope Houston retreated into a much more personal musical jungle. Eschewing electric instruments altogether, Penelope has spent the last decade playing a brand of folk-rock that is truly her own. Though accompanied only by acoustic guitar, string bass, minimal drums, and her own autoharp and melodica, her recent work has retained plenty of acid and vinegar. Between 1987s Snakefinger-produced Birdboys LP for Subterranean and 1994s Karmal Apple on Normal Records in Germany (where she has a considerable following), Penelope has released a considerable amount of excellent music that has remained largely unheard stateside.
That should change with her recent signing to Reprise. Cut You, her maiden voyage on the ship that Sinatra built, consists of both new songs and re-recordings of several Houston hallmarks, and thus should serve as either an excellent new offering for old Houstonians or a de facto best-of for the uninitiated. Her songs tend to involve many nameless, spiritually wiped-out characters captured in moments of particular drama. But instead of telling the whole story as a traditional folksinger might, Houston is more of a tour guide, allowing us only a glimpse of one persons despair before moving on to anothers. The result is a uniquely impressionistic world view.
Such cinematic lyricism, combined with her and her bands musical vision, makes Houston a vital talent in these days of empty-headed music-by-numbers. Although she may, on the surface, sound more like Joni than Johnny, no one who appreciates the fact that this woman is doing what she wants to will ever be able to accuse her of abandoning punk rock.
