Amy Rigby has earned her indie rock/cowpunk stripes as a member of the New York bands the Shams and Last Roundup. This album was produced in large part by Cars alumni Elliot Easton and the band includes country players (se... more »ssion vets Greg Leisz and Don Heffington) and rockers (Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Tony Maimone of They Might Be Giants). The result sometimes recalls Nick Lowe's early '80s recordings. Call it new wave country. The country portion of the equation comes from songwriter Rigby's plainspoken honesty. Her songs are set in the subway, the used book store, on the couch in front of the TV. --Steven Stolder« less
Amy Rigby has earned her indie rock/cowpunk stripes as a member of the New York bands the Shams and Last Roundup. This album was produced in large part by Cars alumni Elliot Easton and the band includes country players (session vets Greg Leisz and Don Heffington) and rockers (Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Tony Maimone of They Might Be Giants). The result sometimes recalls Nick Lowe's early '80s recordings. Call it new wave country. The country portion of the equation comes from songwriter Rigby's plainspoken honesty. Her songs are set in the subway, the used book store, on the couch in front of the TV. --Steven Stolder
"I saw Amy Rigby tonight at the South Street Seaport in NYC. Under occasional strong rain that scattered the two or three hundred in attendance to cover, she did a fourteen or fifteen song set with the same irreverence, intelligence, vulnerability, and resilience that marks each of her albums. I'm still partial to this first one, for it includes at least a half dozen memorable slices of bittersweet life, both single and married. It concludes with We're Stronger Than That, a slightly off-key hymn to a struggling relationship that, she concludes, is worth keeping despite all its flaws. Before then, she dishes up Time for Me to Come Down, the very country flavored Beer and Kisses, Down Side of Love (left off her best of collection, 18 Again. Bad choice.), Knapsack, Just Someone I Had in Mind, and Don't Break the Heart (ditto on 18 Again). A great writer and observer ("That tingling feeling when you're first holding hands/Gives way to dealing with a list of demands." "We lived on beer and kisses/All hopped up on love and foam."), Rigby can also be a formidable rocker, here with a country edge, harder on some of her later CDs. She belongs in anyone's collection.
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Ohio Serendipity
Paul Gehred | Seoul Korea | 04/14/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I caught "Time for Me to Come Down" just as I got into the parking lot at work. Fortunately, I was little late already and had nothing to lose. I had to wait one more song to hear the DJ tell me it was Amy Rigby's. I laughed at the lyrics, and this song rocks very well. It amazes me that songs this good can be so hard to find. The rest of the album has it's charms but please, wizards out there, tell me why "Time for Me to Come Down" came and went with barely a ripple?"
Heart, brains, and a beat you can dance to.
mbpnyc | New York, NY United States | 06/07/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I happened to hear "Cynically Yours" from Amy Rigby's latest CD, "The Sugar Tree", and it just blew me away. I was hooked immediately. She's funny, scathing, and she ROCKS! No sweet folkie is Amy, although her songs are great to sing along with. Play "Don't Look at Me in That Tone of Voice", and just try to sit still. Buy all of her CDs for yourself, and then buy more for your friends - you'll make the world a better place!"
Reflections Of A Former Child Bride
Mike B. | 07/03/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My review title is a line from her song "Sad Tale", but Amy Rigby's choice of "Diary Of A Mod Housewife" is even better for this collection. These are the songs of a (then) 30-something rocker mom and divorcee as she looks backward and forward at her life.
Rigby has an interesting history. She was born in Pittsburgh, but relocated to New York in her late teens. In the 80's she was with a band called the Last Roundup, and then The Shams - an all female folk pop trio. She made some good connections. The Shams only album, "Quilt", was produced by Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group - and was an early release for the alt-country label Matador. Married to drummer Will Rigby of The dB's, she had kids and settled down in Brooklyn's Williamsburg section.
This 1996 solo debut is produced by Elliot Easton of The Cars. He does a great job, but this doesn't sound anything like his band. Like her husband and his group, Amy was an East Coast-er enamored of West Coast sounds. At different times this record evokes the music of The Byrds, The Mamas and The Papas, and The Lovin' Spoonful. On some songs Rigby displays the sassy, flippant attitude of Nancy Sinatra.
Amy's duet with John Wesley Harding on "Beer & Kisses" would've been perfect for Nancy and Lee Hazlewood. "20 Questions" resembles the latter duo's "Jackson", or Nancy's "These Boots Are Made For Walking". In both songs Rigby's addressing her man in a no-nonsense manner. She had split from Will Rigby by this time, but it couldn't have been too bitter - he plays here on a couple tracks.
I love The Mamas and The Papas, and Easton captures their glorious sound on two songs. "The Good Girls" is the highlight of the whole CD, and should've been a hit single. It barrels along with the same soaring harmonies as one of M & P's faster hits like "I Saw Her Again Last Night", while the album closer "We're Stronger Than That" is more similar to their slower "Dream A Little Dream Of Me".
"Down Side Of Love" and "Just Someone I Had In Mind" would suit the Everly Brothers, and show her country/pop affinity to great advantage. Indeed, in 1999 she moved to Nashville to pitch songs. In 2006 she moved to France with her singer boyfriend Wreckless Eric, and they recently married.
Amy Rigby has since released other good albums, but this one will always be my favorite. It's perfect in every way, and was one of the most fun and enjoyable records of the 90's.