Amy Rigby

The success of Alanis Morissette, Tracy Bonham, et al., makes it easy to assume that
contemporary female rockers are all under 30, single and titanically pissed off at the loutish
men in their lives. But Amy Rigby – who is married and a mom, and has left her 20s behind –
proves with her trenchant, roots-pop solo album, Diary of a Mod Housewife, that unbridled
rage isn't the only valid emotion that a female rocker can express. A longtime Ne... More >

Personalizing the political for a bohemia that coexists oh so neatly with structural underemployment, thinking harder about marriage than a dozen Nashville homilizers, the ex-Sham leaves the comforts of amateurism for an ex-Car and some El Lay roots-rockers, throwing her voice around in the process. All the ones you notice at first--the Berryesque "20 Questions," the chartworthy "Beer and Kisses," the lovelorn "Knapsack," and the thematic "The Good Girls"--were laid down in California. But the ones you don't notice you remember, including the five where she returns to reliable locals like Tony Maimone, Doug Wygal, and her hub, who in his real-life version even gets to bang things on a couple of songs. Concept album of the year. (Grade: A)