Rainer Maria: Catastrophe Keeps Us Together

Rainer Maria’s records have always been like a Fourth of July sparkler: pretty, jovial but too quickly extinguished. The trio had a habit of releasing nine-song albums that fluttered in and out of the emo genre, and rarely clocked in over 30 minutes.

It simply wasn’t enough time to indulge in the chipper warble of singer Caithlin De Marrais, the delightful squeal of Kyle Fischer’s guitar and backing vocals, and William Kuehn’s gleeful drums. The trio repays its fans with the long-awaited Catastrophe, eleven (!) songs full of pop grace and indie longing.

The band really outdoes itself this time, shunning the typical throb of MySpace poetry that littered their past work since 1997’s Past Worn Searching. De Marrais moves beyond her cutesy-poo persona and bleeds vulnerability on the powerful “Already Lost.” Equally haunting is the cover of the Nico-sung, Bob Dylan-penned “I’ll Keep It with Mine,” where Rainer Maria’s chanteuse flirts, “Come on, give it to me.”

The maturity is delectable, and Kuehn and Fischer’s solemn restraint evokes a cerebral contentedness. On the other end of the spectrum, “Bottle” – though slightly nascent – is the most straightforward rock number the band’s ever offered. With the vibrancy and stripped-down energy filtered through octave amps and garage punk pedals, the track is a barnstormer.

“Make You Mine” comes off like a coy, effeminate version of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” but with more playful upstroke riffs and drum rolls. And the cheerful bop of “Clear and True” proposes a challenge to Jenny Lewis: who’s the most charming and verbose redheaded vixen of the indie scene? De Marrais gets our vote.

- Melissa Bobbitt
Rainer Maria (Grunion)