Chicago’s Ratboys have been regulars on the DIY indie rock scene for a while now, having toured with Sorority Noise, Slingshot Dakota, Evan Weiss’ band Pet Symmetry, Pinegrove, and a handful of others. The run with Pinegrove was especially a good match, because Pinegrove fans should love the stylistically similar Ratboys. Like Pinegrove, they’ve got enough of an energized sound to make sense on all these indie-punk bills, but they’ve also got a foot in alt-country. Ratboys’ new album, GN — the followup to their 2015 debut AOID — has warm, twangy slide guitar (“Elvis is in the Freezer”), real-deal guitar solos (“Molly”), and briskly-strummed, campfire-ready acoustic guitars (“GM”). If you look at their tourmates and their record label and their hometown and you think you’re getting some emo band, think again. That said, what sets Ratboys apart from the alt-country of say, The Jayhawks or something, is their strong affiliation with modern DIY-punk. Julia Steiner’s voice and the lo-fi guitars have them somewhere in the Waxahatchee/Speedy Ortiz realm. The two sides of their sound come together seamlessly on GN, a noticeably stronger and more confident album than Ratboys’ debut.
I wrote the above about Ratboys‘ great new album GN in this week’s Five Notable Releases of the Week (which also has Jay-Z, Calvin Harris, and more). Ratboys will begin a tour in their hometown of Chicago tonight (6/30) in support of the album.
Ratboys will be in NYC to open the All Get Out show on August 23 at Knitting Factory. That show also has local support from Wild Pink, whose solid self-titled debut album came out on Tiny Engines earlier this year. Tickets for that very cool triple bill are on sale. All dates are listed below.
Listen to the new Ratboys album at their website or below, along with the video for album highlight “Elvis Is In the Freezer.”
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Ratboys — 2017 Tour Dates
06.30.17 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s (Record Release Show) *
07.01.17 – Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel *
07.02.17 – Champaign, IL @ Memphis on Main *
07.03.17 – Bowling Green, KY @ Sinkhole Sanctuary *
07.05.17 – Detroit, MI @ Pike Room at the Crofoot
07.06.17 – Toronto, ON @ DBeatstro
07.07.17 – Ottawa, ON @ Montgomery Legion Hall
07.08.17 – Burlington, VT @ SideBar
07.09.17 – Montreal, QC @ L’Escogriffe
07.11.17 – Manchester, NH @ Bungalow Bar & Grill
07.12.17 – Portland, ME @ SPACE Gallery
07.13.17 – Albany, NY @ Rice House
07.14.17 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
07.15.17 – Bethlehem, PA @ The Blast Furnace Room at ArtsQuest
07.21.17 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
07.22.17 – Omaha, NE @ Milk Run
07.23.17 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room
08.01.17 – Kansas City, MO @ The recordBar (w/ Slothrust)
08.02.17 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club (w/ Ron Gallo, Slothrust)
08.19.17 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
08.20.17 – Boston, MA @ Middle East Upstairs ^
08.22.17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie ^
08.23.17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory ^%
08.24.17 – Washington, DC @ DC9 ^
08.25.17 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room ^
08.26.17 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl ^
08.27.17 – Nashville, TN @ The End
09.07.17 – Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom at The Outer Space #
09.09.17 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre #
09.11.17 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall #
09.12.17 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt #
09.13.17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Funhouse at Mr Smalls #
09.15.17 – Bethlehem, PA @ Lehigh University
09.16.17 – Lancaster, PA @ Lizard Lounge #
09.17.17 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery #
09.23.17 – Champaign, IL @ Pygmalion Festival
10.27.17 – Gainesville, FL @ FEST
* = w/ Mother Evergreen
^ = w/ All Get Out
# = w/ Diet Cig
% = w/ Wild Pink