Catastrophe Keeps Us Together

by Rainer Maria

Overview

If someone recommended Rainer Maria to you as a good emo band and you picked up a copy of their latest release, Catastrophe Keeps Us Together, you might have some difficulty understanding where that classification came from. Because even if Rainer Maria are an emo band, Catastrophe Keeps Us Together is not an emo album. For one, guitarist Kyle Fischer has been kicked off vocals completely, leaving plenty of room for Caithlin De Marrais to expand her singing -- and sounding quite nice, too, smoother and more melodic, choosing long, expressive notes over syncopated angrier ones. Her lyrics, while not exactly uplifting, don't look upon the tribulations of love with any kind of resentment. Instead, De Marrais acknowledges that difficulties happen (or have happened) and that not much can be done but sing about them. She hasn't resigned herself; she just isn't taking immediate action. The opener, the made-for-stadium-anthem "Catastrophe," talks about what the characters will do at the end of the world ("I've got a plan, I'm going to find you," she sings, almost ominously), a steady drum and driving guitar propelling the song along, with De Marrais' bass monotonously echoing the guitar line, making it very radio-friendly. Unfortunately, the most interesting song musically, "I'll Make You Mine," is the most predictable lyrically. It starts out nicely with a punky rhythm and reverby guitar riff, all of which leads to the inane chorus of "I'll make you mine because I love you so tonight." It doesn't get much better with "Southpaw," which tries too hard to be tricky and metaphorical in speaking about a "boxing match," but is so obviously talking about something "bigger" that it would have been better just to get things out in the open instead of poorly hiding them behind a pair of gloves. The album also contains some noticeable departures from Rainer Maria's louder sound, but they work surprisingly well. "Clear and True," which finds De Marrais singing a lot like Avril Lavigne or Kelly Clarkson, is pretty and smooth, and the cover of the Dylan-written Nico cover "I'll Keep It with Mine," comes off well, quiet and airy and clean. At this point it seems that Rainer Maria are much more modern rock than emo, but that doesn't mean that Catastrophe Keeps Us Together isn't a good album. It just has to be taken for what it is. ~ Marisa Brown

Product Details

Release Date:	11/16/2018
Label:	POLYVINYL RECORDS
UPC:	0644110036117

Tracks

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

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rainer Maria   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Malcolm Burn   Audio Engineer,Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Instrumentation
Peter Katis   Audio Engineer,Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Kaia Fischer   Audio Engineer,Mixing,Composer,Group Member
Bob Dylan   Composer
Greg Calbi   Mastering
William Kuehn   Design,Concept,Photography,Group Member,Layout Design
Rainer Maria   Composer
Steve Fallone   Assistant
Caithlin De Marrais   Composer,Group Member
Spencer Heyfron   Photography
Robert Dylan   Composer