Feb 06, 2024 By Mark Redfern

The Decemberists have shared their first new song in six years, “Burial Ground.” James Mercer of The Shins provides backing vocals on the song. They have also announced some new North American tour dates for this spring and summer. Ratboys will be the opener on almost all the dates. More

Jan 23, 2024 By Mark Redfern

Chicago indie rockers Ratboys have announced some new U.S. tour dates for this spring in honor of their latest album, The Window, which was #1 on our Top 100 Albums of 2023 list. Ducks Ltd. will support all dates of the March/April tour. More

Dec 23, 2023 By Mark Redfern

Here we go again, racing to December’s finish line, eager to put another chaotic year in the rearview and nervous about what the next 12 months have in store for us. More

Aug 25, 2023 By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)

Welcome to the 26th Songs of the Week of 2023. Last week’s Songs of the Week was our first one after a month-long hiatus and there were a lot of strong choices (plus we put together a playlist of all the great songs we missed while on vacation). This week, the pickings weren’t as plentiful, but there were still some new tracks we liked. More

Aug 25, 2023 By Mark Redfern

Chicago indie rockers Ratboys have released a new album, The Window, today via Topshelf. Now that it’s out you can stream the whole thing here. Plus today we posted our new interview with the band about The Window, as well as our rave review of the album (both written by Mark Moody). More

Aug 10, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar

Chicago’s Ratboys have shared a new song titled “Morning Zoo,” which is the latest song from their upcoming studio album The Window. More

Aug 10, 2023 By Andy Von Pip

Chicago’s Ratboys who release their new album, The Window, on August 25th share new track “Morning Zoo,” More

Jun 30, 2023 By Mark Redfern (with Kat Ramkumar and Caleb Campbell)

Welcome to the 23rd Songs of the Week of 2023. This week our writers and editors Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Celine Teo-Blockey, Mark Moody, and Scott Dransfield all weighed in which songs were best and we came up with the stacked list below. We settled on a Top 14 this week, with lots of honorable mentions. More

Jun 29, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar

Chicago indie rockers Ratboys have shared a music video for their latest song, “The Window,” which is the title track for their upcoming album. More

Jun 09, 2023 By Mark Redfern (with Kat Ramkumar)

Welcome to the 21st Songs of the Week of 2023. The theme this week was horns, three of the songs in the Top 4 feature some sort of brass instrument (saxophone, etc.). Stricken with indecision, we settled on a Top 13 this week. More

Jun 06, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar

Chicago rockers, Ratboys, have announced the release of their sixth studio album The Window, and shared a music video of its new single, “It’s Alive!” More

Mar 17, 2023 By Mark Redfern

Welcome to the tenth Songs of the Week of 2023. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because I was sick with a bad cold (which still lingers) and we were putting the finishing touches on our latest print issue. So this week’s Songs of the Week encompasses songs from the last two weeks. More

Apr 06, 2021 By Joey Arnone

Julien Baker has just announced a string of tour dates for later this year. Yes, you read that right, new tour dates! Katie Malco will be the opening act for all North American tour dates, with Thao as support for the September 2021 dates and Dehd supporting the October/November 21 dates. Ratboys will be the opening act for all of the 2022 European dates. More

Mar 05, 2021 By Mark Redfern (with Joey Arnone)

Welcome to the eighth Songs of the Week of 2021. It was a fairly quiet week on the news front, with President Joe Biden’s pandemic stimulus bill getting closer to passing in the Senate, but without a minimum wage hike. More

Mar 04, 2021 By Joey Arnone

Chicago rock band Ratboys have shared a new song titled “Go Outside.” The country-tinged song is relevant to current times, but was actually written almost a year before the pandemic took hold. It is available now via Topshelf. More

Apr 02, 2021 By Mark Moody

Chicago’s Ratboys are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their first release in 2021. The core of the band remain Julia Steiner (guitar, vocals) and Dave Sagan (guitar), who have been writing and recording partners from the beginning days of the band. More

Aug 25, 2023 By Mark Moody

Julia Steiner is one of the best songwriters out there at the moment. Ratboys’ previous albums, including the Americana leaning G.N. and more impressionistic (in places) Printer’s Devil, already showcased Steiner’s songwriting prowess. More

Apr 01, 2021 By Mark Moody

No band has handled quarantine quite as admirably as Chicago’s Ratboys. More

Jul 19, 2017 By Will Butler

The ironic universality of American teenage fiction is admirable. Characters cry “nobody gets me,” as we sit at home, headphones on, nodding in agreement; blind to the irony. More