We could have easily grown tired of this particular strain of indie rock with its dash of alt-country and even its grunge guitars by now, but today is not that day. Bands like Wednesday or Big Thief have walked a similar path, kickstarting their careers in dazzling fashion; however, in the case at hand—that of the Chicago-based (originally from Indiana) outfit, Ratboys—the trajectory has been somewhat different. They have moved forward a bit more timidly, finally arriving at the record that cements them as an entity with its own distinct identity, transcending their scene or influences. The Window (2023) marked a step in the right direction, but on their latest album, they don’t just pick up where they left off; they execute it with far greater efficacy.
“Open Up” immediately stakes its claim as one of our favorite album openers of the year. Meanwhile, “Light Night Mountains All That” and “Anywhere” are two of the most immediate, urgently nineties-infused, and purely enjoyable tracks they’ve released in recent memory. Further down the tracklist, the tone grows heavier: they transform an eight-and-a-half-minute slow-burner (“Just Want You to Know the Truth”) into a piece carrying remarkable emotional weight; in fact, it is here that we discover the meaning behind the symbolism of the empty chair.
The album’s B-side, in particular, is full of surprises. It features a stretch of longer songs that refuse to sacrifice energy or melody at the altar of mere atmospheric passages; instead, they skillfully weave together those three defining virtues of the band (“What’s Right” achieves that epic scope without stretching the runtime quite as much). Given the comparisons to their stylistic peers, this might sound like a simplistic analysis, but everything here just works on a record that, while perhaps not flawless, is exceptionally well-rounded.