Pitchfork

The end of 2006 will also bring the end of Rainer Maria, as the long-running band announced today that they will call it quits after two final shows, taking place December 15 and December 16 at Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church and New York City's Bowery Ballroom. Singer/bassist Caithlin De Marrais, guitarist Kyle Fischer, and drummer William Kuehn released the following statement:

"We are grateful to our new listeners and especially our longtime fans for their endless support and attention. We feel incredibly fortunate to have come up during a unique time in rock music, in a community that grew with us from the Midwest to Brooklyn and beyond. Making records has always been a revelation, and walking onto stage together we found a vision we could share.

"For us, this transition can be nothing short of heartbreaking. But for reasons both musical and personal, the three of us have chosen this time to move on."

Rainer Maria formed in 1995 in Madison, Wisconsin; their early releases, including their 1997 debut album Past Worn Searching and its 1999 follow-up, Look Now Look Again, helped define the nascent emo sound. The band would go on to release three more albums on Polyvinyl--2001's A Better Version of Me, 2003's Long Knives Drawn, and the 2004 live CD/DVD Anyone in Love With You (Already Knows)--before moving to the new Grunion label for this year's Catastrophe Keeps Us Together.

Although Pitchfork hasn't been too kind to Rainer Maria in recent years, I personally have loved each and every one of their records, ever since I first saw them perform at the Church in Philly in 1999. De Marrais' strong presence was truly refreshing on the male-dominated emo scene, and the band put on an electrifying live show right up to the very end. They may not have reached the lofty heights of fame and fortune enjoyed by some of their peers, but Rainer Maria certainly left a mark on the fans who loved them.