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Ratboys Announce Spring 2024 U.S. Tour Dates

By Nina Corcoran

Ratboys have announced a 2024 U.S. tour. Slated for this spring, the trek begins on March 28 in Louisville, Kentucky, and brings the Chicago indie rock band across the United States before concluding on April 13 in Madison, Wisconsin. Ratboys will then play at a handful of music festivals, including Primavera Sound Barcelona and Solid Sound . Find their full list of tour dates below; scroll down for the group’s new performance for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert ’s #LateShowMeMusic series.

Released in August 2023, The Window is Ratboys’ most recent album and fourth overall. Mere hours before the end of the year, Ratboys stopped by CBS Saturday Morning to make their national TV debut, performing the title track from that album. Before that, they put out Happy Birthday, Ratboy in 2021, which combined early rarities with new recordings of songs from their 2011 Ratboy EP.

Read more about The Window in Pitchfork’s list of “ The 37 Best Rock Albums of 2023 .”

All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

01-24 Shinjuku City, Japan - Nine Spices 01-25 Osaka, Japan - Conpass 01-26 Nagoya, Japan - Party’z 01-27 Shinjuku City, Japan - Warp Shinjuku 01-28 Suginami City, Japan - Jam 03-28 Louisville, KY - Zanzabar 03-29 Chattanooga, TN - Barking Legs Theater 03-30 Asheville, NC - Eulogy at Burial Beer Co. 04-01 Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor 04-02 Richmond, VA - Richmond Music Hall 04-04 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar 04-05 Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom 04-06 Portland, ME - Space 04-07 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Lounge 04-08 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar 04-10 Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig 04-11 Bloomington, IN - The Bishop 04-12 Iowa City, IA - Gabe’s 04-13 Madison, WI - UW Memorial Union 05-29 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Barcelona 06-28 North Adams, MA - Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Solid Sound Festival)

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Ratboys Announce New Album The Window, North American Tour Dates

Listen to lead single "It's Alive!"

Ratboys are back with a new album called  The Window.  The group’s latest LP arrives August 25th via Topshelf Records, and along with the news, they’ve shared a new run of North American tour dates and the lead single “It’s Alive!”

The Window  marks the first time Ratboys bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio collaborated with guitarists Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan. Teaming with Seattle producer Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara), the band spent two years working out the album’s 11 songs, with notes from Walla, before putting them to tape in 2022.

“The language Chris uses when speaking about music comes from a very emotionally centered place, and that’s something that resonated with us. He would say things like, ‘This cymbal hurts my feelings,’ or ‘This song is like a cat,’” Nuccio recalled in a statement. According to Neumann, “It was such a disarming thing. We didn’t get bogged down in technical terms, and he never placed pressure on us in that way. With Chris steering the ship, we were free to go off on little creative expeditions and come up with parts and ideas we’d never imagined.”

Ratboys will celebrate  The Window  with an August 25th release show in their native Chicago. After that, they’ll kick off their 2023 North American tour in earnest, hitting the likes of DC, Philly, Toronto, Seattle, and Los Angeles before wrapping up in Dallas on November 4th. See their full tour itinerary below, Find deals over at StubHub , where orders are 100% guaranteed via StubHub’s FanProtect Program.

New offering “It’s Alive!” is a melancholy track. Steiner and Sagan’s chiming guitars, paired with Steiner’s sharp twang, make for a breezy, alt-country moment, but when the chorus kicks in, Sagan’s axe bends toward a growl, hinting at a darker undertone. Listen to the song below.

Pre-orders for The Window are ongoing. The project follows Ratboys’ 2021 album  Happy Birthday, Ratboy . 

The Window Artwork:

The Window Tracklist: 01. Making Noise for the Ones You Love 02. Morning Zoo 03. Crossed That Line 04. It’s Alive! 05. No Way 06. The Window 07. Empty 08. Break 90. Black Earth, WI 10. I Want You (Fall 2010) 11. Bad Reaction

Ratboys 2023 Tour Dates: 08/25 — Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern 09/21 — Champaign-Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Festival 09/22 — Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe 09/23 — Washington, DC @ Songbyrd 09/26 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s 09/27 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 09/28 — Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 09/29 — Montreal, QC @ POP Montreal 09/30 — Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern 10/02 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Bottlerocket Social Hall 10/03 — Cleveland, OH @ No Class 10/04 — Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag 10/06 — St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club 10/07 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee 10/19 — Omaha, NE @ Reverb 10/21 — Denver, CO @ Globe Hall 10/22 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court 10/24 — Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s 10/25 — Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios 10/27 — San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord 10/28 — Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room Highland Park 10/29 — San Diego, CA @ The Loft at UC San Diego 10/30 — Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room 10/31 — Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar 11/02 — San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger 11/03 — Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room & Garage 11/04 — Dallas, TX @ Club Dada

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Ratboys Announce 2024 US Tour Dates

The post Ratboys Announce 2024 US Tour Dates appeared first on Consequence .

Ratboys have announced a 2024 tour, which is set to take them to cities across the US this spring.

After wrapping a run of shows in Japan later this month, the Chicago indie rockers will hit the road in March for their US tour, beginning with a stop in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 28th. From there, they’ll perform in cities like Asheville, North Carolina; Burlington, Vermont; and Ann Arbor, Michigan, before wrapping with a final performance in Madison, Wisconsin on April 13th.

Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Friday, January 26th, at 10:00 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster .

In addition to the dates on their spring tour, Ratboys are also booked to perform sets at two festivals this year: Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain, and Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts. After that, in July, they’re also booked to perform an opening set for Guided By Voices in Indianapolis. Check out the full list of Ratboys’ 2024 tour dates below.

Ratboys’ upcoming tour dates arrive in support of the band’s 2023 album, The Window , which Consequence named as the 11th best album of 2023 .

Get Ratboys Tickets Here

For more on Ratboys, check out their national TV debut on CBS Saturday Sessions from earlier this month. You can also listen to the band’s Julia Steiner recent chat with Kyle Meredith on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, where she talked about loss, acceptance, the making of The Window , and more.

Ratboys 2024 Tour Dates: 01/24 – Shinjuku City, JP @ Nine Spices 01/25 – Osaka, JP @ Conpass 01/26 – Nagoya, JP @ Party’z 01/27 – Tokyo, JP @ Warp 01/28 – Suginami, JP @ Jam 03/28 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar & 03/29 – Chattanooga, TN @ Barking Legs Theatre & 03/30 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy & 04/01 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor & 04/02 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall & 04/04 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar & 04/05 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom & 04/06 – Portland, ME @ SPACE & 04/07 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Lounge & 04/08 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar & 04/10 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig & 04/11 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop & 04/12 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s & 04/13 – Madison, WI @ UW Memorial Union & 05/29 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 06/28 – North Adams, MA @ Solid Sound Festival 07/19 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI Annex *

& = w/ Ducks Ltd. * = w/ Guided By Voices

Ratboys Announce 2024 US Tour Dates Jo Vito

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Ratboys Set to Embark on 2024 North American Tour

Max Jefferson (admin)

The Chicago-based indie sensation Ratboys , riding high on the success of their 2024 standout album "The Window," available through Topshelf Records, have just revealed plans for a spring tour across North America. This tour marks a significant stride for the band, as it includes visits to cities where they have yet to showcase their latest work since its release.

Tour Partners and Special Appearances

In a move that promises to delight fans, Ratboys will be joined by the equally talented Ducks Ltd., who are set to support them on this journey. Additionally, audiences can look forward to a unique performance in Indianapolis, where Ratboys will share the stage with the legendary Guided By Voices. This special show is scheduled for July 19th, presenting a rare opportunity to witness these musical powerhouses together.

What's Next?

As the anticipation builds, Ratboys have hinted at more surprises to come. Fans should stay alert as the band plans to announce additional tour dates for 2024 in the upcoming weeks. This tour is shaping up to be a pivotal moment in Ratboys' career, showcasing their evolution and bringing their latest artistic expressions to a broader audience.

Ratboys Tour Dates 2024

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 Thu. March 28 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar & Fri. March 29 – Chattanooga, TN @ Barking Legs Theatre & Sat. March 30 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy & Mon. April 1 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor & Tue. April 2 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall & Thu. April 4 – Baltimore, MC @ Ottobar & Fri. April 5 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom & Sat. April 6 – Portland, ME @ SPACE & Sun. April 7 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge & Mon. April 8 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar & Wed. April 10 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig & Thu. April 11 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop & Fri. April 12 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s & Sat. April 13 – Madison, WI @ UW Memorial Union & Fri. June 28 – Sun. June 30 – North Adams, MA @ Solid Sound Festival Fri. July 19 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI Annex *

&= w/ Ducks Ltd. as support *= supporting Guided By Voices

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Ratboys reminisce and look ahead as they embark on their spring tour

Ratboys shared what is being hailed as a breakthrough release last summer, their fifth album The Window . The social restrictions of 2020 kept the band from their first headline tour that year, but eventually created the landscape that would allow them to lay the foundation for the new record.

They returned to the road with new perspectives and experiences, and headlined their first string of shows last fall. Before kicking off the spring leg of the tour, Ratboys stopped by WFPK to talk with Otis Junior and play "Morning Zoo" and "It's Alive" in the LPM performance studio.

Lead singer Julia Steiner grew up in Louisville and once interned for Kyle Meredith right here in the LPM building. She reminisced on her time here and spoke about how nostalgia played a large role in the creating The Window . She also spoke about working with Chris Walla to produce the album, and how her songwriting has evolved over time. Listen to the entire performance and interview here!

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$18 Advance | $20 Day of Show GA Tickets on sale 1/26/24 @ 10am EST

Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, The Window (Topshelf Records, August 2023), marks a number of firsts for the band. For starters, it was the first time they’d ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to record an album, journeying to Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla for three weeks. It was also the first time they’d ever written an album collaboratively from start to finish, having added full-time members Sean Neumann on bass and Marcus Nuccio on drums in recent years. The new approaches to writing and recording are immediately apparent on The Window, which showcases the fullest, most expansive version of Ratboys’ sound.

“It was the first time we were fully able to collaborate on a record, from beginning to end,” says frontwoman Julia Steiner. “In the past, I’d write songs alone and bring them to Dave [Sagan, guitarist]. Then we’d ask friends if they’d be willing to come to the studio to help us record. But slowly that began to change. On The Window, I wrote the seeds of the songs on my own and brought them to Dave, Sean, and Marcus all at once for the first time. We worked on the arrangements together over the course of a year and half.”

By the time the band showed up to the Hall of Justice Recording Studio, in February 2022, The Window’s songs were well rehearsed and airtight. “In 2020, we weren’t playing shows, so our schedule was wide open,” Steiner says. “We spent that year demoing the songs, and spent 2021 practicing them. We practiced twice a week for six months, exploring the songs and developing them. We’d send early versions to Chris and he’d give us notes. It went like that for weeks. It was such a dedicated and intentional process.”

But while The Window was nearly fully formed going into the studio, the band also left some space for experimentation with Walla, whose production techniques they adored on releases from Foxing, Tegan and Sara, and his own Death Cab for Cutie. The sessions struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band’s style of soft-hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. Walla’s studio sensibilities pushed Ratboys to stretch and expand their vision, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys’ most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on “Crossed That Line” to a warm country twang on “Morning Zoo” to mournful folk on the title track.

“The language Chris uses when speaking about music comes from a very emotionally centered place, and that’s something that resonated with us. He would say things like, ‘This cymbal hurts my feelings,’ or ‘This song is like a cat,’” says Nuccio. “It was such a disarming thing,” adds Neumann. “We didn’t get bogged down in technical terms, and he never placed pressure on us in that way. With Chris steering the ship, we were free to go off on little creative expeditions and come up with parts and ideas we’d never imagined.”

Hunting for sonic inspiration, Walla and the band sometimes spent hours just listening to their favorite albums, spinning everything from Sloan to Brainiac to The Roches. “We listened to so much music while making the record,” says Sagan. “It helped us gain new perspectives and feel more connected to the songs we were making together.”

Lyrically, The Window sees Steiner at her most personal, reflecting on love and grief with occasional humor and levity. She frequently leans on windows as a theme—the idea of an interrupted connection, the feeling of being near someone without being fully present. Sometimes the looking-glass imagery is metaphorical, like on the nearly nine-minute epic, “Black Earth, WI,” or on the pounding lead single, “It’s Alive!” Other times, the windows are literal, like on the album’s titular centerpiece. “I wrote that song a few days after the death of my grandma in June of 2020,” Steiner explains. “She didn’t have Covid, but because of the pandemic my grandpa wasn’t able to visit her in person at the nursing home to say goodbye. He ended up standing outside her room and saying goodbye through an open window. A lot of the lyrics are direct quotes of things he said to her in those moments.”

After more than ten years and four studio albums together, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard—expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender. But most importantly, The Window is the sound of friends operating as a single, cohesive unit. “My dream ever since I started writing songs was to be in a band—a proper band with a consistent lineup,” Steiner says. “To finally have the chance to play with dear friends who are fully committed, it was all I could ever ask for.”

Ducks Ltd. are a Toronto band featuring Australian lead guitarist Evan Lewis and U.K-born, U.S.-raised singer, bassist, and rhythm guitarist Tom McGreevy. As Ducks Ltd., the two thrive on skirting the edges of buoyant jangle pop and driving power pop. Their latest album, Harm’s Way, contains anxious songs that McGreevy explains are “about struggling. About watching people I care for suffer, and trying to figure out how to be there for them. And about the strain of living in the world when it feels like it’s ready to collapse.”

Harm’s Way is an undeniable evolution of Ducks Ltd.’s songwriting process. Where their critically acclaimed 2021 debut Modern Fiction and 2019 EP Get Bleak were self-recorded and self-produced in a Toronto basement, here, they made an LP in Chicago with producer Dave Vettraino and some of their favorite musicians. These collaborators include Finom’s Macie Stewart, Ratboys’ Julia Steiner and Marcus Nuccio, Dehd’s Jason Balla, Moontype’s Margaret McCarthy, Lawn’s Rui De Magalhaes, Dummy’s Nathan O’Dell, and Patio’s Lindsey-Paige McCloy. Ducks Ltd.’s touring drummer Jonathan Pappo also appears on the LP.

The band first showed this collaborative streak on a 2023 covers EP, which featured guests like Mo Troper, Ratboys, Illuminati Hotties, and Jane Inc. that boasted renditions of songs by The Cure, The Feelies, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Where those songs started as ideas on days off from tour, Harm’s Way is also a product of writing on the road while supporting acts like Nation of Language and Archers of Loaf. “When we got signed, we had played maybe five or six shows ever,” says McGreevy. “After last year, it’s well in the hundreds. Those things change your perception of your own music and songwriting.” This well-earned and road-tested confidence made the making of this LP their most intuitive and organic yet. “Our relationship is built on trust and we don’t let our egos come into the creative process in any way,” says Lewis. “We have this really great thing where every decision with the band is filtered through both of us. Here especially, we really figured out how to make something that truly sounds like us.”

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Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, The Window marks a number of firsts for the band. For starters, it was the first time they’d ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to record an album, journeying to Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla for three weeks. It was also the first time they’d ever written an album collaboratively from start to finish, having added full-time members Sean Neumann on bass and Marcus Nuccio on drums in recent years. The new approaches to writing and recording are immediately apparent on The Window, which showcases the fullest, most expansive version of Ratboys’ sound.

“It was the first time we were fully able to collaborate on a record, from beginning to end,” says frontwoman Julia Steiner. “In the past, I’d write songs alone and bring them to Dave [Sagan, guitarist]. Then we’d ask friends if they’d be willing to come to the studio to help us record. But slowly that began to change. On The Window , I wrote the seeds of the songs on my own and brought them to Dave, Sean, and Marcus all at once for the first time. We worked on the arrangements together over the course of a year and half.”

By the time the band showed up to the Hall of Justice Recording Studio, in February 2022, The Window ’s songs were well rehearsed and airtight. “In 2020, we weren’t playing shows, so our schedule was wide open,” Steiner says. “We spent that year demoing the songs, and spent 2021 practicing them. We practiced twice a week for six months, exploring the songs and developing them. We’d send early versions to Chris and he’d give us notes. It went like that for weeks. It was such a dedicated and intentional process.”

But while The Window was nearly fully formed going into the studio, the band also left some space for experimentation with Walla, whose production techniques they adored on releases from Foxing, Tegan and Sara, and his own Death Cab for Cutie. The sessions struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band’s style of soft-hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. Walla’s studio sensibilities pushed Ratboys to stretch and expand their vision, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys’ most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on “Crossed That Line” to a warm country twang on “Morning Zoo” to mournful folk on the title track.

“The language Chris uses when speaking about music comes from a very emotionally centered place, and that’s something that resonated with us. He would say things like, ‘This cymbal hurts my feelings,’ or ‘This song is like a cat,’” says Nuccio. “It was such a disarming thing,” adds Neumann. “We didn’t get bogged down in technical terms, and he never placed pressure on us in that way. With Chris steering the ship, we were free to go off on little creative expeditions and come up with parts and ideas we’d never imagined.”

Hunting for sonic inspiration, Walla and the band sometimes spent hours just listening to their favorite albums, spinning everything from Sloan to Brainiac to The Roches. “We listened to so much music while making the record,” says Sagan. “It helped us gain new perspectives and feel more connected to the songs we were making together.”

Lyrically, The Window sees Steiner at her most personal, reflecting on love and grief with occasional humor and levity. She frequently leans on windows as a theme—the idea of an interrupted connection, the feeling of being near someone without being fully present. Sometimes the looking-glass imagery is metaphorical, like on the nearly nine-minute epic, “Black Earth, WI,” or on the pounding lead single, “It’s Alive!” Other times, the windows are literal, like on the album’s titular centerpiece. “I wrote that song a few days after the death of my grandma in June of 2020,” Steiner explains. “She didn’t have Covid, but because of the pandemic my grandpa wasn’t able to visit her in person at the nursing home to say goodbye. He ended up standing outside her room and saying goodbye through an open window. A lot of the lyrics are direct quotes of things he said to her in those moments.”

After more than ten years and four studio albums together, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard—expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender. But most importantly, The Window is the sound of friends operating as a single, cohesive unit. “My dream ever since I started writing songs was to be in a band—a proper band with a consistent lineup,” Steiner says. “To finally have the chance to play with dear friends who are fully committed, it was all I could ever ask for.”

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"[C]ontrasting cozy nostalgia with hard-rocking instincts...Ratboys were always sitting on a goldmine." -Pitchfork on "Happy Birthday, Ratboy"

"[…] massive hooks and sweeping cavernous melodies that will stick in your head for days and days." -Post Trash

"[S]inger Julia Steiner has individuality to spare, both as a vocalist and a songwriter...she works her frayed voice like a pair of kitchen shears, doing her damage not through broad swipes but well-placed snips. Her warmth and whimsy seeps through even Printer’s Devil ’s grungiest songs. -Pitchfork

"[…] on the surging new “Alien With a Sleep Mask On,” Ratboys have energetically reemerged as an unstoppable power-pop force with cinematic ambitions." -MTV News

"After the gentler alt-country vibes of much of the band’s earlier work, the anthemic rock promise lurking below the surface has arrived, transforming this song into a fully realized power-pop gem that wields its crunching, distorted chords with cathartic abandon. Julia Steiner’s voice still walks the delicate line between frail and fierce, the better to deliver this sly ode to not quite feeling all there. If this is the direction the band is moving in for the upcoming album—and judging from the superb, electric live sets it’s been delivering in recent months, it is—let’s hope it doesn’t stop." -AV Club

"The band creates a wonderful medley of acoustic inspired indie rock layered with fuzz, melodic narrations, and hauntingly catchy melodies." -Under The Gun

"You’ll want to listen over and over just to hear Julia Steiner’s voice, but you’ll soon too get invested in the stories she weaves over the course of the album." -Culture Collide

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How a Bernie Sanders Shout-Out, The Post-Country Boom & Chris Walla’s Know-How Primed Ratboys for Their Biggest Album Yet

In Billboard's monthly indie spotlight, the stalwarts discuss their rich history and new album, 'The Window.'

By Eric Renner Brown

Eric Renner Brown

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The Window , out August 25 on Topshelf

For Ratboys’ Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan, college started paying off before taking a single class. “Dave and I met during freshman orientation” at Notre Dame, Steiner tells Billboard . “We were both music nerds in a sea of – in a student body that isn’t full of music nerds. We showed up to college and neither of us had plans to start a band or to seek out people to play music with. We just kind of found each other really quickly.”

Before long, Steiner and Sagan were posting their recordings online and playing regional DIY shows. “The first community that we found ourselves in was in the south suburbs of Chicago, which is where Dave and [bassist] Sean [Neumann] grew up,” Steiner says. “I immediately got welcomed into this community of bands and music freaks down there that loved every type of music and were really passionate about having house shows with a million different types of bands.”

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Tongue-in-cheek or not, Steiner’s description has proven prescient for both Ratboys and their peers. “I think you were kind of ahead of your time there a little, Julia,” Nuccio says. “I mean, look at the landscape of indie-rock right now. So many bands, like Big Thief and Wednesday and Florry and all amazing bands, it kind of is like post-country, right? In the way that post-rock or post-hardcore is taking a genre and then adding a little modern twist to it.”

“Some of the tunes that we make are within – or at least paying homage to – that country tradition,” Steiner concludes.

When a tour later that year took Ratboys through Seattle, the band met with Walla; he asked them about their vision for their next album during on a walk back from a grocery store in the pouring rain. “We immediately dove into the details as if we’d known each other forever,” Steiner says. “He’s just a very easy person to spend time with.”

Soon, the band was sending demos to Walla for creative guidance, and in early 2022, Ratboys returned to Seattle to for a month to record, marking their first sessions outside of Chicago. Neumann says Ratboys cherished the opportunity to immerse and “make a record without thinking about the outside world,” comparing the sessions to staying over at a friend’s house. “There was one couch in there, and everybody had their preferred spot on the couch,” Sagan adds. “By the end of it, everybody had their own, like, perfectly formed butt groove.” (“That was the provisional title of the record, actually,” Steiner quips.)

Walla helped the band record live-to-tape for the first time, and also proved an empathetic sounding board for The Window ‘s lyrical content. “I told him, ‘A lot of the songs are more personal, more real, more honest than some of the things we’ve made before – like, I just want it to be very real, unflinchingly so,'” Steiner recalls. “He was game for that. We really looked at everything in the face and [were] full-steam ahead with some of these ideas.”

The Breakthrough

In January 2020, Ratboys received an unlikely boost. Organizers for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign contacted the band to open for one of the senator’s Iowa rallies, and Steiner and Sagan braved a blizzard to play the gig. When Sanders took the stage for his speech, he thanked Ratboys – but Steiner’s phone died as she tried to film the moment for posterity.

The episode dovetailed with the rollout for Printer’s Devil , Ratboys’ most accomplished set of songs yet, which arrived that February to rave reviews. The pandemic disrupted the band’s planned headline tour, which was to begin March 14, 2020, but Ratboys made lemonade from lemons, diving into livestreaming and writing. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Ratboys re-recorded several early songs – and a new one, the instant quarantine classic “Go Outside” – for the 2021 full-length Happy Birthday, Ratboy! ; the project coincided with Ratboys’ first overtures to Walla.

Two years after Happy Birthday , Ratboys returned with the longest song of its career, the eight-and-half-minute “Black Earth, WI.” The expansive rocker – along with other new singles “It’s Alive!,” “The Window,” “Crossed That Line,” and “Morning Zoo” (out today) – flashed the band’s recent lyrical and musical growth.

Ratboys co-headlined a tour with Wild Pink in 2021, but the band is excited to finally make good on its nixed 2020 touring plans and head out on a headline run of its own next month. “We’ve never had the opportunity to do a real, ticketed headline tour,” Steiner says with excitement. “It’s finally happening!”

The Piece of Studio Equipment They Cannot Live Without

Steiner: “A roll of gaffe tape. Very useful to have around, not just for cymbal-dampening purposes – which I know nothing about, that’s like black magic to me – but I found a very, very important lesson while vocal tracking on this record: sometimes in order to unlock the best vocal performance, you need some sort of physical object to interact with while you’re singing. At one point, I grabbed this heavy-ass roll of gaffe tape that we had and just the weight of it in my hands, I was able to sing better. That was indispensable to me throughout the session.”

Neumann cites Chicago pal Nnamdï, and Nuccio teases “a secret Nnamdï surprise coming in the Ratboys world, for any of the vinyl heads out there” who buy The Window on wax.

The Advice Every Indie Artist Needs to Hear

Sagan: “Play a show before you start thinking about any Spotify listeners. Don’t worry about how people receive your music – just play it first.”

The Thing That Needs to Change in the Music Industry

Steiner: “The music industry today kind of treats music like a public utility, and I really fear that there’s no way to go back from that entirely. The value of a song, the value of an artistic idea has kind of been washed away. If there’s some way that we could reframe the way we look at music… honestly, we’ve talked about this in the band: Spotify should be $100 a month. It’s so cheap. It’s just a matter of finding that tipping point where people will agree that this has value and be willing to pay more for it.”

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with special guest Free Range

• Date Oct. 07 , 2023
• Event Starts 8:00 PM
• Venue https://www.pabsttheatergroup.com/venues/detail
• Doors Open 7:00 PM
• On Sale Availability On Sale Now

Event Details

Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, "The Window," marks a number of firsts for the band. For starters, it was the first time they’d ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to record an album, journeying to Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla for three weeks. It was also the first time they’d ever written an album collaboratively from start to finish, having added full-time members Sean Neumann on bass and Marcus Nuccio on drums in recent years. The new approaches to writing and recording are immediately apparent on "The Window," which showcases the fullest, most expansive version of Ratboys’ sound.

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• April 12, 2024 Setlist

Ratboys Setlist at Gabe's, Iowa City, IA, USA

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• Making Noise for the Ones You Love Play Video
• Morning Zoo Play Video
• It's Alive! Play Video
• Charles Bernstein Play Video
• Elvis is in the Freezer Play Video
• I Want You (Fall 2010) Play Video
• Go Outside Play Video
• Crossed That Line Play Video
• Space Blows Play Video
• No Way Play Video
• The Window Play Video
• I Go Out at Night Play Video
• Black Earth, WI Play Video
• Alien with a Sleep Mask On Play Video
• Look To Play Video

Edits and Comments

2 activities (last edit by MistahSwags , 14 Apr 2024, 23:32 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Black Earth, WI
• Crossed That Line
• I Want You (Fall 2010)
• It's Alive!
• Making Noise for the Ones You Love
• Morning Zoo
• Alien with a Sleep Mask On
• I Go Out at Night
• Space Blows
• Charles Bernstein
• Elvis is in the Freezer

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• Apr 10 2024 Blind Pig Ann Arbor, MI, USA Add time Add time
• Apr 11 2024 The Bishop Bloomington, IN, USA Start time: 10:10 PM 10:10 PM
• Apr 12 2024 Gabe's This Setlist Iowa City, IA, USA Add time Add time
• Apr 13 2024 Der Rathskeller Madison, WI, USA Add time Add time
• Apr 30 2024 Ulster Performing Arts Centre Kingston, NY, USA  –  Find tickets Add time Tickets Add time

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