|
||
|
|
By Tiffany Razzano
According to Kuehn, part of the reason for this maturation is the amount of time spent on writing the songs for this album. The band began the songwriting process after the tour for Long Knives concluded in late 2003. "We weren't sure where the next record was going to come out on or what we wanted to do with it," he said. "So we decided to take our time to write the record. I think it paid off."
This brought the group back to the experience of writing their first album, 1997's Past Worn Searching. "Much like the first album," Kuehn said, "we were writing music for the sake of writing the music. There was no rushing or having to be in and out of a studio on specific dates. It enabled us to concentrate on the music."
The result is a more mature sound that can be heard from the opening of the first and title track, "Catastrophe Keeps Us Together,"a post apocalyptic love song where ex-lovers are reunited in the face of the destruction of the world. De Marrais' confident crooning, at the top of its game, is only complemented by the tightness of Fischer's guitar playing and Kuehn's inspired drumming. Immediately hummable, this radio ready rocker sets the tone for the rest of the album, a nice mix of both mellow and more rock-oriented tunes, even throwing in a cover of Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It with Mine." And the band is able to live up to the expectations they set for themselves on this first track. The poetically sensitive lyrics and emotionally sonorous melodies that fans have come to love can still be heard; the tunes, which are much tighter and feature a more complex, orchestrated sound, create a richer atmosphere that envelops the listener, drawing them further into the world of Rainer Maria..
"I think there's always been a natural progression from record to record for us and this isn't a departure from that theme, where each record is a bit more honed as far as songwriting skills," Kuehn said. "This is no different. This is one step, if not ten steps, above anything we've done in the past."
For fans who worry that this album might alienate Rainer Maria from their fanbase, Kuehn assures them, "As far as what's coming from us emotionally and soulfully, it's definitely Rainer Maria for sure." He did point out, however, that while their goal was definitely not to intentionally write a record that would have more mass appeal, the goal of any band when they record and release an album is to keep the fan base they already have while hoping to broaden it a bit.
The album also marks the trio's departure from their long-time label Polyvinyl to join Grunion Records. In fact, Catastrophe is the first album to be released on the newly formed label, which was created about six months ago as an offshoot of Q Prime, an artist management company that oversees the careers of such major label artists as Shania Twain, Metallica and Garbage.
After coming home from the Long Knives tour, Rainer Maria decided to write their next album before worrying about which label they would go to. They decided to begin recording the songs before they had a label as well. The songs that would make up Catastrophe were completed by 2004. But the band kept busy with the release of their live CD/DVD, Anyone in Love with You (Already Knows), with audio tracks compiled from the prior four years and film footage from a March 2003 show at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, N.C., as well as a stint opening for Coheed and Cambria.
In a move that would also influence the development of the band's more sophisticated sound, they decided to switch producers as well. After recording two songs with Peter Katis, the group recorded the remaining tracks with Malcolm Burn, who has worked with a bevy of stars, including Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Emmylou Harris.
Burn had become a fan of Rainer Maria's Long Knives Drawn, inviting them up to his private recording studio just north of New York City to work with him. After working with him a bit in fall of 2004, it was obvious that they all clicked. So the album was completed at Burn's studio in spring 2005.
"It was a relaxed atmosphere," Kuehn said. "It wasn't what we expected from a big name producer. It fostered creativity, and we were able to write a couple of songs up there at the same time. As far as the creative process, [working with Burn] definitely helped that."
Once the recording was completed, the group began to shop the record to a few labels and even had some labels, including Grunion, approach them when they heard the group was looking for a new home.
"They had been in touch with us before because they do management," Kuehn said, "and we were on their radar before the label portion was even in existence. They heard we had a record and that we weren't sure who we were going to work with yet."
Despite being at Polyvinyl since their 1997 debut, the group decided that they would try a new home to go along with their new sound and new producer. Part of Grunion's draw was the fact they while they are an independent label, they still have decades of experience in the music industry and a reputation as being solid, genuine and trustworthy because of the management arm of the company.
Now, for the next year or so, the group will be on the road in support of Catastrophe Keeps Us Together. The first leg of the tour, which brought them to Austin's SXSW music festival as well as various Midwest cities, kicked off mid-March. Rainer Maria also went back to Madison, Wisconsin for the first time since they moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 1999. The group comes back to New York for a few weeks after that before they leave for their big headlining tour on April 18, which will take Rainer Maria until the end of next June.
"I'm from Wisconsin originally, so I reallllly miss it," Kuehn said. "But I think everyone does, we were all there for a while. We haven't been back in a couple of years, so we really have to get back there."
When they return to New York before their big tour, the group will shoot the first music video for the album, though as of press time they hadn't chosen the song. When pressured to give his opinion on which song might ultimately be chosen, Kuehn laughed and said he couldn't pick a favorite. "I have so many favorite songs on this record that, honestly, I want to do like six videos. I'd like to see at least three or four videos and I think we could do that."
With the tour approaching, all band members have renewed their pledge of dedication to Rainer Maria. Over the years all three saw a variety of side projects, including Kuehn's now defunct side band the Prosaics, who released an album on Matador Europe in November 2004. Following the completion of recording the Catastrophe, all three band members have all pledged their long-term dedication to the group, which formed out of the ashes of Fischer's and Kuehn's band Ezra Pound in 1995. De Marrais joined after meeting Fischer at a poetry workshop at the University of Wisconsin, jumpstarting the literary trio's career as rockstars.
"As of right now we're all dedicated to Rainer Maria full time. With the new label it's definitely a step up, so all of our time is committed to [the band]," Kuehn said. "We put in ten, sometimes twelve hour days, especially during the last month getting ready for the record to come out."
He added, "When we came out of the studio with this album, we decided this is it, this is what we want to dedicate ourselves and all time to, this, Rainer Maria, is what we love."
0 4 . 1 7 . 0 6
Perpetual Toxins © 2006-2007 - All Rights Reserved |
|
iterary indie rockers Rainer Maria are getting set to release Catastrophe Keeps Us Together, their first studio album since 2003s Long Knives Drawn. The album sees the Brooklyn-based group, formerly of Madison, Wisconsin, moving even further away from the emo label that has long been associated with them. The trio, comprised of Bill Kuehn (percussion), Caithlin De Marrais (bass, vocals) and Kyle Fischer (guitars, vocals), takes their sound up a notch as they show off their honed skills as musicians and songwriters.
