Amy Rigby

Way back when, some famous Brit rock singer rasped out a line about shuffling off this mortal coil before getting too long in the tooth -- of course, when he finally got old, he'd softened his stance somewhat. Rock 'n' roll is often thought of as a young person's music, and not without reason, but thankfully there are a few performers who can successfully come to grips with maturity without sounding antiquated. Amy Rigby is one. Throughout three fine discs released on the Koch label, she has established a melody-rich, roots-rockin', sardonic singer/songwriter oeuvre in which she recounts the intermittent joys and knotty snags facing aging hipsters forced to confront single parenthood and the single life. (To those under 30: Don't be smug. It could happen to you.)

Related Content

• Jigsaw Seen: Show Preview
  November 30, 2011
• Wine Clubs Are the Coffin Nails of Rock 'n' Roll
  November 29, 2011
• Too Late Baby, Now, It's Too Late
  September 21, 2011
• The 10 Best Underground Rock Reissues of 2011
  December 30, 2011
• Gram Parsons Tribute Concert: Show Preview
  August 24, 2011

More About

• Amy Rigby
• Elvis Costello
• The Beach Boys
• Stereolab
• The Rolling Stones

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Til the Wheels Fall Off, Rigby's first platter for a new label, is as consistently good as its predecessors, with the principal difference being that some of the ol' folk/country/pop/rock snap 'n' twang has been supplanted by pensive sophistication. Still, Rigby's wit is as sharp as ever: In "Are We Ever Gonna Have Sex Again" she opines, "Whatever happened to "babe' and "stud'?/ Too much KFC and Bud," charging her delivery with the right mix of resignation and tenacity. "The Deal" juxtaposes a jaunty Beach Boys/Van Dyke Parks/Stereolab melody with lyrics that delineate those annoying how-do-we-define-us negotiations that too often go with modern relationships. The ballad "Don't Ever Change" is musically and lyrically her version of the Stones' "Get Off My Cloud," sung not from the standpoint of an impetuous kid, but rather as a wistful adult taking stock of the good things in her life. But don't think Rigby's gone all mellow on us -- note the recalcitrant jangler "Last Request," as full of piss and vinegar (and as catchy) as anything off Elvis Costello's This Year's Model or Brutal Youth. If her latest album is any indication, Rigby will be rocking her way (with plenty of classy aplomb) into that proverbial good night.