Rainer Maria

Rainer Maria are a three-piece indie/emo band from Madison, Wisconsin that formed in 1995 and broke up in 2006. However, between 2014 and 2015 they've done a handful reunion shows, so if we're lucky there will be another in 2016. The main focus though is their recorded material, which they were quite productive with. They put out a slew of full-lengths, as well as a few EP's and one live album, almost all of which were with Polyvinyl (which was also home to Joan of Arc, American Football, and Owen).

Rainer Maria fit the "emo" tag in the sense that they incorporated clean, arpeggiated guitars, slowly-driven intricate rhythms, but certainly had much more to them. For one, this is probably one of the tightest three-piece bands I can think of, where each instrument contributes so much to every individual song, and come together to form some really beautiful tones. The vocals are incredible, mostly female-sung, though earlier on they did feature dual male/female vocals, adding another layer to an already finely-tuned machine. In my opinion, they could be mentioned on the same level as bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, though sadly never gained quite as much recognition. Still, they're an unbelievable band that have a very strong following of their own. I would highly recommend this band to not only any fan of "emo" (though fans of "emo revival" bands do take note, Rainer Maria were a big influence on a lot of them), but any fan of good, guitar-based indie rock. Enjoy.

Rainer Maria (1996)

1. Summer & Longer

2. I Love You Too

3. Rain Yr Hand

4. Portland

5. Ian

6. Made In Secret

Past Worn Searching (1997)

1. Tinfoil

2. Half Past April

3. Viva Anger, Viva Hate

4. Always More Often

5. Sickbed

6. Never In Anger

7. New York 1955

8. Homeopathy

9. Put Me To Sleep

Look Now Look Again (1999)

1. Rise

2. Planetary

3. Broken Radio

4. Feeling Neglected?

5. Breakfast Of Champions

6. The Reason The Night Is Long

7. Lost, Dropped And Cancelled

8. Centrifuge

9. I'm Melting

Atlantic (1999)

1. There Will Be No Night

2. Atlantic

3. Soul Singer

A Better Version Of Me (2001)

1. Artificial Light

2. Thought I Was

3. Ceremony

4. The Seven Sisters

5. Save My Skin

6. The Contents Of Lincoln's Pockets

7. Atropine

8. Spit And Fire

9. Hell And High Water

Ears Ring (2002)

1. Ears Ring

2. Alchemy

3. Automatic

Long Knives Drawn (2003)

1. Mystery And Misery

2. Long Knives

3. Ears Ring

4. The Double Life

5. The Awful Truth Of Loving

6. The Imperatives

7. Floors

8. CT Catholic

9. Situation: Relation

Anyone In Love With You (Already Knows) (2004)

1. Tinfoil (Live)

2. Soul Singer (Live)

3. Mystery And Misery (Live)

4. Artificial Light (Live)

5. The Reason The Night Is Long (Live)

6. The Seven Sisters (Live)

7. The Contents Of Lincoln's Pockets (Live)

8. Spit And Fire (Live)

9. Long Knives (Live)

10. Thought I Was (Live)

11. Rise (Live)

Catastrophe Keeps Us Together (2006)

1. Catastrophe

2. Life Of Leisure

3. Burn

4. Bottle

5. Terrified

6. Cities Above

7. Already Lost

8. Clear And True

9. I'll Make You Mine

10. Southpaw

11. I'll Keep It With Mine

Rainer Maria (2017)

1. Broke Open Love

2. Suicides And Lazy Files

3. Lower Worlds

4. Forest Mattress

5. Blackbird

6. Possession

7. Ornaments of Empty

8. Communicator

9. Hellebore