Amy Rigby has been doing her thing since she was a member of The Shams (when I first saw her) and slicing through pop mediocrity from the time she released her first solo album, the now-legendary Diary Of A Mod Housewife. She hasn’t slowed down one bit, as proven with her latest opus, The Old Guys.
The heavy “Good Day Sunshine”-style bass into the shimmering guitar chimes opens up the album on “From philiproth@gmail.com to rzimmerman@aol.com”, a lyrically witty yet touching piece; what makes this so good (let alone a strong lead-off track) is its steady propulsiveness; again, Ms. Rigby’s sense of humor shines through on “Are We Still There Yet?”, a tongue-in-cheek look back over the shoulder at the ’90’s and “Playing Pittsburgh” has very warm and muted keyboard/ringing guitar interplay mixed into a groove and some great textures along with powerful vocal gymnastics from Ms. Rigby. Again, a gripping bass riff powers the track “Leslie”, a haunting song about a fallen soul – hypnotic and a high point; the title track has “pop single hit” written all over it; catchy, bouncy, crisp and equally thoughtful. I love the recording-in-the-garage sound and feel of “New Sheriff” – very ’60’s and instantly grabs my attention and “Slow Burner”, at moments reminded me of The Pentangle in a few places – an elegant, slightly mysterious piece that reminds me of sparkling water.
I doubt I could really add much more to this; if you know Amy Rigby’s music, she only gets better with every subsequent release. Whether she’s recording with her husband, the eternally-brilliant “Wreckless” Eric Goulden or solo, Ms. Rigby always delivers something meaningful and powerful.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The Old Guys will be released on Friday, February 23rd, 2018
http://www.amyrigby.com/