Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby
(Stiff)
Mickey and Sylvia. Paul & Paula. Peaches & Herb. Add to the list - too short a list, really - of great singing couples Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, Englishman and Mod Housewife American, who have been performing together for several years before putting out this new album on Eric's revived old label, Stiff. It's just the two of them on this record - Eric on guitars, Rigby providing guitar and keyboards, and both taking leads - but the production never sounds thin or dull, thanks to harmony singing, judicious percussion and well-placed sampling and sound effects. It balances Eric's raw, punk-tinged garagey sound with Rigby's solid folk-rock melodiousness.
Both artists also understand the power of melancholy, when it fits an especially bittersweet memory. And Eric, like so many long-lasting, cultish British singers (Robyn Hitchcock, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers) has both stayed in touch with his eccentricities and mined his craft. In turn, that has inspired Rigby.
What fine songs these are! Personal and self-revelatory, yet also sparkling with evocatively imagist and descriptive detail, each original composition is a standout. These include the jointly written "Here Comes My Ship," Rigby's "Astrovan" and "Men in Sandals," Eric's deathless "The Downside of Being a Fuck-Up," and more. Eric's "Another Drive-In Saturday," a tribute/update to the Bowie rock of his "Whole Wide World" youth, has a hypnotic guitar-vamping fadeout, reminiscent of his masterful "33's and 45's" from the Bungalow Hi CD. This album closes with a quiet, sincere duet on Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone," Rigby's more forward voice propelling Eric's higher, thinner one forward. You can hear the strength each gives the other. Hope they stay together.
Standout Tracks: "Here Comes My Ship," "Another Drive-In Saturday" STEVEN ROSEN
