‘The Window’ is the latest full length from Chicago four piece Ratboys, and while it may provide a view of the world that surrounds them, it also acts as a portal into their innermost workings.
It feels like all roads have been leading to this point for Julia Steiner and company as they simultaneously lower their guard and step into their full potential musically. Decamping from their hometown to Seattle to record with former Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla — whose recent work includes outings with Foxing and Braids — the group shook off any Midwestern malaise that may have started to creep in.
They have allowed themselves to be pushed to new highs by a producer responsible for some of the finest indie-rock moments of the past couple of decades. On the title track Steiner’s voice soars as she swims in an ocean of longing and reassurance, trying to cling on to moments that matter as they flash before her eyes.
‘The Window’ offers an eclectic mix. From the tightly orchestrated all-out country-rock of No Way, complete with twangs of electric guitar and lilting vocals, to the two chord punk blast of Empty, which finds the band keeping pace with the young team coming out of Chicago's DIY scene, there is very little time to become bored.
The monstrous eight minute Black Earth, WI channels Blur when they let Graham Coxon take the reins, and on the ambient calm of album closer Bad Reaction the lines between the humans making the music and the music itself blur completely into another realm.
Parallels could be drawn to fellow Chicagoans Wilco. While their sound may be more closely aligned to that band’s rough-hewn forerunners Uncle Tupelo, the workaday approach to meticulously perfecting their craft, while still creating moments of startling brilliance, is an ethos the two groups certainly share. Steiner also has the same ability as Jeff Tweedy to mine everyday moments with profound lyrical insight.
There is a widescreen ambition to ‘The Window’ that would make it the perfect accompaniment to a road trip, forcing you to look up and out at the world. But there is also intimacy held within Steiner’s words that probe the same questions and realisations that long journeys provide the opportunity for. Ratboys have set a high bar on their latest record, and in their nuanced and exacting creation of songs with cutting emotional intelligence they prove that greatness often arrives in the most subtle of ways.
Ratboys Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon November 13 2023 - BRIGHTON Zahara Nightclub
Wed November 15 2023 - GLASGOW Hug and Pint
Thu November 16 2023 - MANCHESTER YES (The Basement)
Fri November 17 2023 - BRISTOL Rough Trade Records
Sun November 19 2023 - LONDON Omeara
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