Chicago-based Ratboys has risen from a Midwestern tradition rooted in intimate indie-rock and folk to become one of the gleaming new sounds of 2023. That long-deserved prestige is owed greatly to their willingness to experiment on their fifth studio album The Window. Produced with the help of Chris Walla from Death Cab for Cutie, the record furnishes the band’s acoustically spacious melodies with lush instrumental innovations that flicker with rousing Americana.
But the resonant beauty of Ratboys can be traced through their discography all the way back to their inception in 2010. At that time, it was just Julia Steiner (lyrics, vocals, guitar) and David Sagan (guitar), two freshmen at Notre Dame who met at orientation and were soon putting out music together. In 2012, the pair released their debut self-titled EP Ratboy — four years later, they’d added Sean Neumann (bass, vocals) and shared their first full-length album, AOID.
With songs like “Tixis” and “Folk Song for Jazz,” the tender narrative lyricisms penned by Steiner and delivered through her soft coos were revealed to be the quietly radiating heart of Ratboy’s music. In between the releases of their next two albums — the fantastic rock illuminations of GN and the nostalgic homecoming farewell that was Printer’s Devil — they rounded out their lineup with the final addition of Marcus Nuccio (drums).
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Over a decade after the freshman meeting that started it all, they unveiled their fourth album, Happy Birthday, Ratboy as a homage to the band’s birth. It also marked an evolution in their sound in which Steiner’s luminous words remained at the forefront but were imbued with a newfound glow, surrounded as they were by stirringly confident rock crescendos that romped and soared. “The Stanza” and “Space Blows” are two immediate favorites. While sprinkled throughout are gently twittering reminders like “Intense Judgement” and “Have a Heart” of the emotional heft their stripped-down melodies summon.
The Window is a culmination of all the pieces that came before: every new album and addition to the band, coalescing once more around Steiner’s potent reflections on love and death. Never before had Ratboys fully collaborated on a record from start to finish. But the cohesive element of that creation, guided by Walla’s ear for inserting instrumental idiosyncrasies like rototoms, talkboxes, and sublime fiddles, has resulted in their most affecting record to date.
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From its galloping opening track, “Making Noise for the Ones You Love,” and the punkish gusto that spirals from “Crossed that Line” to the country twang of strings that saunter through “Morning Zoo,” — Ratboys waste no time baptizing you in the ravishing energy of their new sonic growths. There are punchy love-pining songs like “I Want You (Fall 2010)” and a nearly nine-minute slow burner, “Black Earth, WI,” that reaches its pinnacle in a sizzling guitar solo and cathartic harmonies.
Of all the introspections and retrospections that are crammed into the many windows Steiner finds herself peering through across the album, few are as dually devastating and uplifting as its title track, “The Window” — a song that recalls the separation (due to the pandemic) and heartbreaking love illustrated the moment her grandfather was forced to say goodbye to his wife through an open window. Like so much of their music, it taps into a mercurial but electrifying pool of emotion that ripples across the record’s many rejuvenating moments.
Visit Ratboys on their website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Ratboys tour
Wed. Jan. 24 – Shinjuku City, JP @ Nine Spices
Thu. Jan. 25 – Osaka, JP @ Conpass
Fri. Jan. 26 – Nagoya, JP @ Party’z
Sat. Jan. 27 – Tokyo, JP @ Warp
Sun. Jan. 28 – Suginami, JP @ Jam
Wed. May 29 – Sat. June 2 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Listen to The Window the new album from Ratboys below!
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