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]
Diary of a Mod Housewife | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1996 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Label | Koch Records[1] | |||
Producer | Elliot Easton, Gene Holder | |||
Amy Rigby chronology | ||||
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The album was produced by the Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, with the dB member Gene Holder.[6][7] Rigby duets with John Wesley Harding on the album's third track, "Beer & Kisses".[8] Ira Kaplan contributed organ to "That Tone of Voice".[9] Diary of a Mod Housewife was written while Rigby was doing temp work in New York.[10]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Calgary Herald | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | A[5] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A−[13] |
Lincoln Journal Star | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin | 7/10[15] |
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."[13] The New York Times thought 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."[16]
The Philadelphia Inquirer placed the album on the "short" list of "grown-up rock-and-roll records that examine monogamy with insight and intelligence."[17] Stereo Review deemed it "a cross between the Go-Go's, Buddy Holly, and a female cowpunk band."[18]
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."[11]
No. | Title | Length |
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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" |