What Does A Boa Constrictor Sound Like?

Easy answer: Caithlin De Marrais.

De Marrais, the petite and pale lead singer of Ranier Maria, always had an astonishing way of singing when she led that band. I remember standing very far away from her, in the summer of 2001, at the Village Voice's annual concert at Coney Island, marveling as she seemed to unlock her jaw to sing. Her mouth opened so much larger than one would expect for someone her size. On record, her cadences sound like she's consuming gigantic words, lyrics and thoughts whole, and then spitting them back to us to share their sheer force.

The way she explodes into the first word of the song "Tinfoil" -- "Goddamnit" -- is like something detonated inside of her, or, perhaps, like the exagerrated ingestion of something by a snake. Something passes through all of her body when she articulates her feelings in song. There are other female vocalists who are more magnetic and talented, but probably not one as sincerely powerful as De Marrais.

Unfortunately, Rainer Maria is probably one of those bands that, five years now, barely anyone will remember. They released two excellent albums, "Look Now, Look Again" and "A Better Version of Me," and I always loved the songs "Tinfoil" and "Atlantic." They also seemed to have a loyal following to fill mid-sized clubs for about six years. But those records were on Polyvinyl --which had a very good emo identity for awhile, an interestingly diverse roster after that, and has receded since -- not the major indies. They were also most popular immediately before Pitchfork reached the status that a band could sell a record into the six figures from an excellent review, or simply propel itself from the constant coverage. And Pitchfork never much liked Rainer Maria because they were third-generation (fifth? who knows?) emo, which in general barely registers on the cultural scene anymore. Rainer Maria executed very, very well, though.

Writing this makes me feel like the guys who write R5's descriptions of bands, when some obscure group that released two good records from 1992-96 reunites, and they get so wistful about those February 1993 basement shows and end the blurb with "Yes!!!" And I sit there reading and think, "Who?" Anyway, to the good times: A high-quality video of Ranier Maria performing "Tinfoil" at Cat's Cradle: