FTC: Rainer Maria
After a week away from the feature, our from the closet this week goes to old school indie popsters Rainer Maria. This band, hailing from college town Madison, WI, were a part of a small group of indie bands that jumped on the small Polyvinyl Records label as they got their start in the mid 90s. That group included several top notch bands in the underground late 90s era like American Football, Braid, Paris TX, or even Aloha to name a few. As a teenager growing ever so tired of the Nirvana knockoffs and the rise of boy bands in the late 90s, those Polyvinyl bands were my first real taste of quality indie-music. When looking back at all my old mix CDs from that era full of Pedro the Lion, Appleseed Cast, and other similar bands, I always seem to find a Rainer Maria jam on every one of ’em. It’s sad now that the band has been broken up for close to 4 years , but alas we still have the tunes of old. Below you’ll find “Artificial Light” from my favorite Rainer Maira LP, A Better Version of Me, dropped back in 2001. I recently picked up a vinyl copy of that record and it really took me back. I’d argue that this was when the band really honed in their sound and started to make some big noise in the indie scene.
Download: Rainer Maria – Artificial Light [MP3]
RM is so good. The Rainer Maria + Mates of State show at Emo’s a half-decade back was seriously my Best.Show.Ever.
FTC worthy? Abso-fucking-lutely.