By Dave Miller

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Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby brought their husband-and-wife show to Schubas Friday night, but not without encountering some bumps along the way. "We've been stumbling from catastrophe to catastrophe," Eric, whose last name is Goulden, said early in the set.

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You wouldn't have known it from the performance. It was the best of the five shows they've played together in Chicago. Whereas the pairing used to be a sometimes uneasy meshing of Goulden's punk musings and Rigby's pop songcraft, now the unique combination seems like a natural blend of like-minded spirits. You can see why the couple is compared to Johnny and June Carter Cash.

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A healthy crowd turned out to the early show. (In a warped oddity, a 13-year-old girl played the late show.) Perhaps for the first time in town, audience members seemed to listen and respond to Goulden and Rigby as one instead of as fans of one or the other. The couple has earned it with three well-received albums including their latest, A Working Museum. In time, Goulden and Rigby played six songs from their adventurous new release, but not before easing into an expertly-paced set. Rigby's "Astrovan," a tribute to her old mode of transportation, quietly kicked off the proceedings and Goulden followed with his take on the Turtles' "I Get Out of Breath" before they harmonized on a cover of Roger McGuinn's "Ballad of Easy Rider." Rigby's "Please Be Nice to Her" was extra poignant with her daughter, Hazel, in attendance.

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Just when things threatened to become too sedate, they popped the cork on the performance with a rip-roaring "Til The Wheels Fall Off," a careening song Rigby recorded with Todd Snider for her 2003 album of the same name. A Working Museum was showcased with a five-pack in midset highlighted by the album's winding trilogy of the desperate "The Doubt," dark "Days of Jack and Jill" and wistful "Genovese Bag." "The Doubt" is the most striking song on the album and one of Rigby's greatest songwriting achievements. She received an assist from Goulden, who provided the idea for the frenetic beat. The rumination on marriage malaise belongs on the alternative bookend to Springsteen's Tunnel of Love.

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A strong stretch run catapulted the show among the best ones of the year so far. The new "Do You Remember That" recounted how Goulden and Rigby came together. (You can see the song's charming video here.) Goulden's underground classic cosmically responsible for their meeting, "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World," was the perfect follow-up. Rigby's "Dancing With Joey Ramone" showed why it's a regular on Little Steven's Underground Garage satellite radio station. A curveball, an expansive take on John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane," landed the performance satisfyingly. Even the rock gods smiled upon the show by keeping a couple usual small catastrophes from happening; Rigby didn't break a string and Goulden's guitar avoided over-modulation.

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Those who have missed Rigby's solo material in recent years will be happy to know the mod housewife is working on material for another album of her own. A memoir is on the way, too.

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