Ratboys
Singin’ to An Empty Chair
New West
My first introduction to Ratboys was four albums in, with Happy Birthday, Ratboy. I immediately felt pulled to the sound, a mix of nostalgia for what I remembered as the golden days of indie rock and the promise that some amazing music is still to come our way.
A couple of years later, I reviewed The Window for Ink 19 and felt no less seduced. Now with their sixth record and first release on New West, I’m even more optimistic about the future, musically at least.
There is no filler on Singin’ to an Empty Chair. I couldn’t find a single track that didn’t fit the narrative — it arrives like a mosaic memoir. Listen from start to finish or shuffle and you’ll sense the intention from vocalist Julia Steiner. She describes the record as an attempt to document her experience of being estranged from a loved one. The chemistry of Steiner and guitarist Dave Segan has been unmistakable since their earliest days, and made only more complete with the addition of bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio.
The band set up camp in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area to write and demo the songs on this album. My experience with artists who retreat to this part of the country to write or record is never disappointing. The result is eleven tracks that are a perfect followup to 2023’s The Window, relying again on co-producer Chris Walla to keep the bar raised high.
While a handful of singles were released prior to the full album drop, a standout for me is “Open Up.” It delivers signature Americana overtones mixed with vocals reminiscent of Denver’s Dressy Bessy. All the elements to introduce the album are here, intrigue those who are new to Ratboys, and cement the love from those of us who celebrate this next chapter.
“Light Night Mountains All That” packs layers of emotion alongside sonic exploration into a six-minute stretch that flies by — a rarity for a single. Steiner refers to it as the band’s “wormhole jam,” and I imagine this will play out very well in a live show if they allow it to stretch with improvisation and experimentation beyond what we are treated to here.
As promised, the confessional and downtempo “Just Want You to Know the Truth” delivers the album’s title line in a sweet poignant portrait of holiday memories and skeletons discovered. Segan’s outro guitar is its own vocal line and benediction, letting Steiner perhaps stand up and walk off after saying what she needs to say or sing to the empty chair.
“At Peace in the Hundred Acre Woods” is the perfect last track and nod to hope, as it moves along at a cautious yet curious Christopher Robin pace.
Laugh through the pain/ yeah we’re sailing away / it’s a brand new day
Owl and his friends would surely agree that Steiner and her bandmates have given us their best record to date.
