Terrific album from a One-of-a-kind Performer
author: Kenneth French
I've been a fan of Penelope Houston since her days in the Avengers. I have pretty much all of her stuff, Avengers and solo, and this ranks up with the best of it. The melodies are strong, the arrangements are rocking with more than a hint of a 60s feel, and her vocals are better than ever. This is fast becoming my favorite of hers, along with "The Whole World." I especially love "Flight 609," "Take My Hand," "Hole," and the title track.
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Come in, Houston
author: Hiya Swanhuyser
In the SF Weekly, May 30, 2007
The Pale Green Girl is underrated, like most of Penelope Houston's work. The most recent record of the Avengers' singer is an acoustic Kinks meets early Buffy Sainte Marie faux concept album, full of slow, biting, pretty indie pop. In other words, it's what would have been blasting out of every radio in the country before pop put its tail between its legs. All women and some dudes would have sung along with her, belting out the snaky, snarky, sexy lyrics of "Bottom Line," like "Baby I don't need you, and that's the bottom line/ Without you bells are gonna ring the sun's still gonna shine." It should be a major karaoke favorite for your drunk grandma to holler at your mean grandpa, along the lines of "These Boots Were Made for Walking." But pop did eat itself, so we'll have to be content to have a world-class musician who plays fairly regularly in our better small venues. The CD also features sad, weird songs like "Aviatrix," about dead children singing in heaven, freak-out psych raveups like "Soul Redeemer," and the throb of the title track's violent fantasies.
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