Rainer Maria
Catastrophe Keeps Us Together
Grunion Records

www.rainermaria.com
www.grunionrecords.com


Three years after their last release, Rainer Maria comes back with their tightest effort ever. Balancing
the expansive "emo" of their first records and their "power pop" tendencies beautifully, to put forth an
effort of crisp and powerful catchy songs full of heart.

Singer/bass player Caithlin De Marrais has taken another step forward with her vocals, singing
confidently and powerfully, incorporating the flaws she has, to produce a touching and strong sound.
Guitarist Kyle Fisher further refines his balance of the beautiful buzz and crunch guitar with the soft,
gentle, sugar pop picking, and drummer Bill Kuehn remains the steadfast foundation of the band,
a driving, explorative, drummer that has the ability to expand and contract, to fit into a song and
transcend it at the same time.

Rainer Maria is a 3-piece rock band, female vocals, maybe they are explosive pop music, maybe
they are eerie indie rock, they incorporate both styles and produce new sounds all the time. Catastrophe
Keeps us Together has the band producing sounds that combine sweet and avant garde, and delivering
great lyrics and really catchy songs.

The 11-track CD begins with a slow build up of sound, a driving drum beat and guitar bursting through,
setting the table for Marrais' crisp, clean, imperfect voice throwing itself into the center. She sings
about love and loss as Catastrophe drives along, the pain in her voice seems a perfect contrast to
the forceful pop sounds produced.

But the 2nd track slows down a bit as the bass sets a dreary stage for a story of a couple falling out
of love, and Marrais sings out, begging, "How can one word, mean another." The next song is also a
little dreary, and more eerie, as Marrais tells the story of a character who doesn't recognize the good
things they have, and watches them "Burn" away.

Song 4, "Bottle," starts off as a soft ballad, with Marrais singing "Baby there's the moon, I'll sing it down
if you ask me to" and explodes into rock and some great drum breakdowns. The explosion stops on
track 5 with a gentle, strolling song with Marrais delivering, her voice shaking and delivering every
emotion, the story of a breakup, of terrified lovers. Next there is a kind of carnival like, minstrel, song.
Pianos and accordions and pretty drums, a dream sequence and drunk dancing music, as Marrais breathes
of "He didn't know my name, but I loved him all the same."

The next song - "Already lost" - is another tune of love lost. A drifting, surreal feeling as a lover waits
all night by themselves, then gives up and moves on in the morning. The slow, souful, feel of
"Already Lost" is countered by the high-tempo drums in the next song "Clear and True." Marrais lets
loose a breathy apalogy, as Fisher swirls his guitars and Kuehn pounds up a sharp, catchy beat. The
snappy drum work keeps up on track 9 as Kuehn release some rifle blast rhythms, before the fuzzy guitar
comes in and Marrais sings about plans to win her lover.

Track 10 is one of the best. A mid-tempo waltz, following a character entering the boxing ring of love.
A veteran who sings about going the rounds one more time, but has doubt and is worried about the
hurt. The guitars stay clean and pretty, til the dreakdown when things bubble over, the guard goes
down and the bass clears out the room. Once the room is empty, Marrais sings another eerie ballad -
"I'll keep it with Mine" and the CD goes out, on a rather disappointing, and weak, song.

Overall, however, Catastrophe is a fine album of rock; great lyrics and music deliver heartbreak
on a pretty platter. Take a bite, it'll fill you up.

Reviewed by : Mike Hammer