| Diary of a Mod Housewife | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Label | Koch [1] | |||
| Producer | Elliot Easton, Gene Holder | |||
| Amy Rigby chronology | ||||
| ||||
Diary of a Mod Housewife is the debut album by the American musician Amy Rigby, released in 1996. [2] [3] It has been called a concept album about growing older in a music scene, marriage, motherhood, and romantic dissolution. [4] [5] Rigby supported the album with a North American tour. [6]
The album was produced by the Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, with the dB member Gene Holder. [7] [8] Rigby duets with John Wesley Harding on the album's third track, "Beer & Kisses". [9] Ira Kaplan contributed organ to "That Tone of Voice". [10] Diary of a Mod Housewife was written while Rigby was doing temp work in New York. [11]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| Calgary Herald | [13] |
| Robert Christgau | A [5] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− [14] |
| Lincoln Journal Star | [10] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [15] |
| Spin | 7/10 [16] |
| Winston-Salem Journal | [17] |
Robert Christgau thought that Rigby personalizes "the political for a bohemia that coexists oh so neatly with structural underemployment [and thinks] harder about marriage than a dozen Nashville homilizers." [5] Entertainment Weekly called the album "an impressive debut," writing that the songs "occupy a world where relationships, jobs, and urban life are rife with unfulfilled promise." [14] The New York Times wrote that, "like Kate McGarrigle and Iris DeMent, Ms. Rigby has a reedy voice with steely underpinnings," writing: "With clear-cut melodies and an exacting eye, songs like 'Beer and Kisses' and 'Just Someone I Had in Mind' measure the distance between romance and reality." [18]
The Philadelphia Inquirer placed the album on the "short" list of "grown-up rock-and-roll records that examine monogamy with insight and intelligence." [19] Stereo Review deemed it "a cross between the Go-Go's, Buddy Holly, and a female cowpunk band." [20] The Winston-Salem Journal called it "a disgruntled look at the disheveled life of a creative thirtysomething woman." [17]
AllMusic wrote that "in addition to her knowing lyrical eye, Rigby is also a terrific composer who synthesizes elements of rock, country, folk and girl group-era pop." [12]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Time for Me to Come Down" | |
| 2. | "Sad Tale" | |
| 3. | "Beer & Kisses" | |
| 4. | "20 Questions" | |
| 5. | "Down Side of Love" | |
| 6. | "The Good Girls" | |
| 7. | "Knapsack" | |
| 8. | "Just Someone I Had in Mind" | |
| 9. | "Don't Break the Heart" | |
| 10. | "That Tone of Voice" | |
| 11. | "Didn't I?" | |
| 12. | "We're Stronger Than That" |
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Amy Rigby is an American singer-songwriter. After playing with several New York bands she began a solo career, recording several albums which had only modest sales despite enthusiastic reviews. She settled into a career of touring while raising a daughter, then formed a duo with Wreckless Eric whom she also married. As of November 2011 they continue to tour from a base in upstate New York. She is the author of a memoir, Girl to City.
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