Customer Reviews

Past Worn Searching

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you've heard a recent Rainer Maria album and been like "blah, this is boring rock", fear not. This, along with their second album, are classic desert island emo albums that reward repeated listens. Its got the melodic girl/boy singing and loud/soft dynamics, but the guitars rock like Jawbreaker or early Promise Ring. Thick bass. If you like this try Hurl and Taking Pictures, which is very similar except that its two guys singing.

emo is such a touchy word. nobody out there wants to be "emo", even the fellas with the romulan haircuts and the stupid white belts won't actually admit that they're emo. but what exactly is emo? it's just short for emotional, and there's no shame in emotional music--as rainer maria prove effortlessly with this album. the coarse beat-frequency running through caithlin and kyle's harmonies only adds to the raw beauty of these songs. this is emo at its finest, a definite must-have for anyone who's ever vehemently denied being "emo".

I've seen this band a few times and had to find the record. It sucked me in right from the beginning (probably one of the best record beginnings I've heard in a while). Some of the most impressive Chicago emo-rock available. Male/female vocals that just run perfectly alongside each other. Some track are beautiful and touching, and others make you wanna kick someone in the shin. These kids deserve a lot more than they get.

I've outgrown this band, but when I was still listening I thought this one , Look Now... and A Better Version... were their best. The Atlantic cd is also good. Skip the demo and the live cd. Can't speak for the new stuff, but I liked the singer (and the band) better before her makeover.

The most heart-breaking, incredible, gut-wrenching, beautiful album you may ever hear.

several friends i know dislike rainer maria because of the off-key vocals; however, this sound is what shapes the emotion in their music - emotion spills out of this album in abundance. the boy and girl tandem vocals are beautiful, even if often off-key. their vulnerability is like an open wound, only mended by screaming and pensive lyrics. i recommend this album to anyone. it's great music to write poetry to.

A lot of acclaim in the past year or two has come out for this Wisconsin-based three-piece, and no more than for their newer album, "A Better Version of Me," which presents the generally discordant vocals of Kyle Fischer and Caithlin De Marrais in their most mainstreamly palatable form to date. For the true Indie-rock lover, however, no other album showcases the stunning angry and, well, "worn" poetic voices of these kids as their orginal full-length, "Past Worn Searching." Though the voices of De Marrais and Fischer in this record are hardly the types that you will hear on the radio, they are beautiful none-the-less, with an attention to detail in the way the instruments play off each other that is truly unparralleled in today's rock scene; when the baseline recedes, the drums pick up the tempo louder, forcing the dynamic out of a blistering lead guitar, and when all that subsides, a two-part angry mob of a chorus picks up where the instruments leave off. Rainer Maria is no stranger to praise for their intense lyrical talent but their musical prowess is often overshadowed by the sheer weight of words. "Past Worn Searching" is rough in that it shows immaturity but it's an honest account and no rainer maria fan can deny it's greater power compared to the later albums.

I guess for lack of a better phrase I would describe this album as "Beautifully Violent" One gets a good grasp of the male/female duality on this album..Kyle and Caithlin really have great chemistry together and this album proves it...If you dig love songs with heavy drumming and open tuning, then this album is for you.

I love this band--but I'd only recommend their most recent album, "Long Knives Drawn." In "Long Knives Drawn," Rainer Maria finally got it right--managing to rock, to use solid hooks, but not to be mainstream. I recommend starting with that album rather than this one, because, sorry, I just find this one unlistenable. The singing is not only offkey but delivered in a monotonic shriek, and the music is so determined not to be mainstream that it's just noise. I can't comment on the lyrics, because I can't hear them for all the cacophony. I see that several other reviewers highly praise this album--and to them, with all due respect, I can only say, "huh?"

This record really has something for everyone. The dual male/female vocals by Caithlin and Kyle are enough to get me almost teary-eyed...and the crazy rock parts are rocking enough to make everyone around me sing along at the top of their lungs...:)