Ratboys
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Ratboys
April 12 @ 8:00 pm - 11:30 pm
$15.00 โ $24.50Englert Presents: Track Zero
Ratboys
w/ Ducks Ltd
& Early Girl
Live at Gabe’s
Track Zero is The Englert’s new concert series that presents burgeoning, diverse, and boundary-pushing artists in Iowa City. Let us be your mixtape to the new and excitingโoff the track list! Follow us on Instagram at @trackzeroic.
Show Description
Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, The Window (Topshelf Records, August 2023), marks a number of firsts for the band. For starters, it was the first time theyโd ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to record an album, journeying to Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla for three weeks. It was also the first time theyโd ever written an album collaboratively from start to finish, having added full-time members Sean Neumann on bass and Marcus Nuccio on drums in recent years. The new approaches to writing and recording are immediately apparent on The Window, which showcases the fullest, most expansive version of Ratboysโ sound.
โIt was the first time we were fully able to collaborate on a record, from beginning to end,โ says frontwoman Julia Steiner. โIn the past, Iโd write songs alone and bring them to Dave [Sagan, guitarist]. Then weโd ask friends if theyโd be willing to come to the studio to help us record. But slowly that began to change. On The Window, I wrote the seeds of the songs on my own and brought them to Dave, Sean, and Marcus all at once for the first time. We worked on the arrangements together over the course of a year and half.โ
But while The Window was nearly fully formed going into the studio, the band also left some space for experimentation with Walla, whose production techniques they adored on releases from Foxing, Tegan and Sara, and his own Death Cab for Cutie. The sessions struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the bandโs style of soft-hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. Wallaโs studio sensibilities pushed Ratboys to stretch and expand their vision, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboysโ most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on โCrossed That Lineโ to a warm country twang on โMorning Zooโ to mournful folk on the title track.
After more than ten years and four studio albums together, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heardโexpansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender. But most importantly, The Window is the sound of friends operating as a single, cohesive unit. โMy dream ever since I started writing songs was to be in a bandโa proper band with a consistent lineup,โ Steiner says. โTo finally have the chance to play with dear friends who are fully committed, it was all I could ever ask for.โ
Ducks Ltd.ย
Ducks Ltd. are a Toronto band featuring Australian lead guitarist Evan Lewis and U.K-born,ย U.S.-raised singer, bassist, and rhythm guitarist Tom McGreevy. As Ducks Ltd., the two thrive onย skirting the edges of buoyant jangle pop and driving power pop. Their latest album, Harmโs Way,ย contains anxious songs that McGreevy explains are โabout struggling. About watching people Iย care for suffer, and trying to figure out how to be there for them. And about the strain of living inย the world when it feels like it’s ready to collapse.โ