Middlescence
Amy Rigby has a purpose. It's in her voice, her words, and her wardrobe. She gives voice to post-punk women who've spent years fretting about remaining hip only to find they're now more concerned with their expanding hips. The sequel to Rigby's eye-openingDiary of a Mod Housewifepicks up where that 1996 collection left off. Rigby may be a couple of years wiser, but she remains alternately defiant and pliant in the face of advancing age. "Hearts and flowers have their place / On tablecloths and bits of lace," she scoffs one moment, only to fret, "I'm no hot chick / I'm hoping I'll wake up and won't care" the next. When she's not pondering midlife dating and motherhood ("Gee it's real nice to kiss you on the mouth / But this doesn't feel right / Could you sleep on the couch?"), she's reflecting on bygone revelry ("Summertime in '83 / The last time I took LSD"). Former Cars guitarist Elliot Easton is back in the producer's seat and the power pop/thrift-store country fusion he patched together on the earlier record is, if anything, more cohesive this time around. Rigby tails off here with the line "They say middle age is the beginning of life / I don't know if I buy that." Judging by this album and its predecessor, it may at least usher in better career days for one mod housewife.--Steven Stolder