Better Version of Me (Polyvinyl, 2001) marks the midpoint of Rainer Maria’s recording career in a number of ways: not only is it the first album recorded since moving en masse from Madison to Brooklyn (a move documented on their Atlantic EP, 1999), but their sound is in the middle of shifting from the precious Midwest emo of their early career (which reached its apex on 1999’s Look Now Look Again) to the glossier riff-driven pop-rock of their later career. Songs like “Spit and Fire” and “Hell and High Water” benefit from being caught in the middle. Still, after the complexity of Look Now, Better Version feels simultaneously rushed and indulgent, especially on “The Seven Sisters” and “Atropine.” Kyle Fischer has started to rescind his share of vocal duties to focus more on the guitar, and while longtime fans bemoaned this change as a dramatic shift in the band’s character, the energy he brings to his instrument here more than make up for the loss of his voice—listen to “Thought I Was” for a good example of what the band gains in his guitar, and compare against “The Contents of Lincoln’s Pockets” for what they lose in his singing. Caithlin DeMarrais’s voice is stronger and more tuneful than previous releases, and she admirably carries songs like “Artificial Light” and “Ceremony.” The lyrics also continue to mature—goodbye undergraduate musings, hello narratives—and Better Version is the first evidence that Rainer Maria is a band who asks their audience to grow with them.