by Jare C (@jareccurtis)
Since the band’s inception over a decade ago, Ratboys have been hard to define. With a tried and true, power-pop, indie-punk backbone at the center of their songwriting, the band has explored a lot of adjacent ideas, aesthetics, and sounds in their twelve-year run. While their paths have ventured into many different territories within that time, this year’s The Window, feels not only like a culmination of their efforts up until this point, but also a mission statement for the project as a whole.
To speak on The Window is to speak of nostalgia. This is a record that is absolutely drenched in early-to-mid-2000’s indie rock revivalism. You can’t really get melodies catchier than this: no vocals can be any sugarier, no lyrics more ruminative, no guitar lines more celebratory. The atmosphere of the record simply screams spring semester, senior year of high school, with adventure in every corner of every song. The album, also, almost has a three act structure across its eleven tracks. From the jaunty and pulsating “Making Noise For The Ones You Love,” the crunchy, riffy spree of “Crossed That Line,” and the reflective “It’s Alive!,” the first act of the album sets up a journey of self discovery, of fresh new discoveries and passions realized.
The midpoints of the album contain some slower, more melancholy, contemplative bids, such as the refraining and cordial “No Way,” the soft and searching “The Window,” and the rivetingly sonically nuanced “Break”. The album finally comes to steadfast conclusions with catchy and serenading cuts on “Black Earth, WI” (a track completed with a nearly four minute jam section) and “Bad Reaction.” Additionally, this record finds Ratboys exploring some musical shifts that previously were mostly soft discoveries for them. Songs like “Morning Zoo” and “No Way” embrace powerful country pop dimensions, with choruses and instrumental buildups that wouldn’t feel out of place on a The Chicks or Shania Twain hit.
“Empty” closes out with a vocal and instrumental build that repeats the emotional plea of the speaker, complete with a classic end-of-song fade out. “I Want You (Fall 2010)” is perhaps the most shining standout on the entire project, with a danceablely fun and impassioned chorus, twangy, poppy guitars riffing off each other, brilliantly summing up nearly every thematic concept presented across the project. The acoustic drive of the record’s closer, “Bad Reaction,” is a downtrodden, sweet pop ballad, reminiscent of some of the best of Tegan and Sara’s work, with perfectly synthetic, echoey string accentuations that would fit in perfectly to the climactic scene in your favorite 2005 teen romantic comedy- closing the curtain on our time with Ratboys in a near perfect fashion.
Overall with The Window, Ratboys have almost certainly created their own movie soundtrack of sorts, one that fully embraces the aesthetics and mechanics of the cultural moment from fifteen to twenty years ago, all while staying undoubtedly fresh, original, and poignant. Each song is unique, making the overall buildup of the album diverse, while still telling a variety of stories with a lot of connective tissue. Ratboys has created an album that is the perfect car CD - no skips, all bops, complete with successful musical experimentation and plenty of emotional tone shifts. If you’re looking for your next indie rock obsession - you’ve found it here.