Released: August 25, 2023
First impressions tend to stick, and when it comes to Chicago’s Ratboys, I distinctly remember feeling a tinge of cognitive dissonance the first time I heard “Alien With a Sleep Mask On.” On one hand, the song (taken from 2020’s Printer’s Devil) was a ‘catchy-as-hell’ anthem, but an instinctive aversion to anything rat-related curbed any potential enthusiasm for further exploration.
Fast-forward a few years, and I found myself in virtually the same scenario. Only, this time, I simply could not deny the brilliance of Ratboys’ latest release, The Window. From the moment I heard “It’s Alive,” I was hooked. Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla has carved out quite the niche for himself, producing a pretty unassailable resume of indie-rock gems. To that point, his latest collaboration with Ratboys is easily the band’s best work to date.
Initially, Ratboys were an intriguing, albeit modest indie rock band with a small, dedicated following. With The Window, however, they’ve combined their well-established indie-rock aesthetic with the best songwriting of their career. The result is a record that is both polished and anthemic.
The appropriately titled “Making Noise for the Ones You Love” kicks things off with a bang. The fuzz-drenched, Sonic Youth-indebted open gives way to one of the album’s best hooks. The track is an impressive display of energy and immediately signals that The Window is anything but business as usual.
The mid-tempo “Morning Zoo” and punk-tinged “Crossed That Line” further reinforce the band’s ‘no rules’ ethos while “It’s Alive” is probably going to wind up being ‘the song’ that everyone remembers ten years down the road.
From there, the band bounces between amped-up indie jams (“Empty,” “I Want You”) and radio-ready anthems (“The Window,” “Break”). Oh, and don’t even get me started on the album’s centerpiece, “Black Earth, WI,” a nearly nine-minute epic that’s yet another high-water mark for Ratboys.
While Ratboys is currently a four-piece, the songwriting duo of David Sagan and Julia Steiner has been the core of the band since its inception. And for her part, Steiner has never sounded more confident. She’s both expanded her vocal range and self-effacing lyrical palette, delivering exactly what each song calls for.
Sagan, meanwhile, continues to prove the perfect compliment as the duo have somehow managed to blend the ‘no fucks given’ charm of their earlier work with what was clearly a labor of love. Additionally, bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio (oh, that hi-hat work) shine throughout, thanks to a lush, nuanced mix. To that point, Walla’s production choices consistently bring out the best in the band, allowing Ratboys to go from coffeeshop-quiet to arena-rock-loud at a moment’s notice.
So, yeah, ‘I dig the album’ is a pretty massive understatement here. And in the end, The Window is a testament to just how far Ratboys have come, underwhelming first impressions be damned.
Generation Mixtape 