Weekly Album: Week of 06/04 - 06/10 - Look Now Look Again

This week I listened to "Look Now Look Again" by Rainer Maria. Rainer Maria has always been a band on my radar, coming from the same era of Emo that most of my favorite Emo bands come from, the 90s midwest scene. This is what I would call some proper Midwest Emo, before the genre became a mix of Emo flavored Pop Punk and less obtuse Math Rock. While there are some good bands in this more modern take on the genre, the real deal stuff from the 90s is what I love the most. It's still rooted in Punk and Post-Hardcore, but there is that twinge of sadness and melancholy in everything and a bit of a sparkle in the guitars that makes it sound Emo to me. The guitar work on this album is very pretty. It is comprised of arpeggios and interesting sounding chords that just sound so lush. The drums sound great; the snare drum having this wide open crack that was sort of the style at the time in Emo. I hear it in several other bands from the time and there is a reason because it just sounds so great. The vocals on this album are beautiful, from both the guitarist and bassist of the band. Their voices provide such great contrast against each other, certainly reminding me of Everyone Asked About You (though it is very possibly they were influenced by Rainer Maria in this case). This album does not miss a beat anywhere as all the songs are of a fantastic quality. Since there are only 9 songs with the album being 34 minutes it doesn't drag on too long but it doesn't overstay it's welcome either. This is a fantastic album and I'm excited to get more into the band. 9/10 album.