In a legend too precious to be untrue, Kyle Fischer (guitar/vocals) and Caithlin DeMarrais (vocals/bass) met in a poetry workshop at the University of Wisconsin. They started dating and writing poems and songs together. Kyle brought in Will Kuehn (drums) to round out the trio, and they named themselves after the turn-of-the-century German lyric poet (Kyle and Will’s previous band was named after Ezra Pound). Past Worn Searching (Polyvinyl, 1997) sees vast improvement over their self-titled debut EP (1996)—in addition to the improved production, the music itself is subtler and slightly less bombastic, as in “Always More Often” and “Half Past April”—but they’re still miles away from where they ended up after four more full-lengths. They can get rather quiet, too, as in the piano-based “New York, 1955.” Many fans prefer this early period: the shared lead vocal duties lend an intimacy not easily found in other Midwest emo bands of the period. Indeed, Rainer Maria played fan favorite “Tinfoil” in practically every live show throughout their career. Both Past Worn Searching and Look Now Look Again (1999) are endearingly indie—for better or worse—in a manner the band seemed to lose sight of in the coming years.