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I’m gonna say something that may be deemed controversial by some, but… 2023? A good year for music in my opinion! This month alone saw releases from The Armed, Jeff Rosenstock, and Ratboys. Might just be the trifecta of my musical tastes right there, all putting out some of their strongest work to date. Ratboys especially upped their game with their new album, The Window. Just one of those special records that captures a band showing off the full force of what they can really do with their sound.
I recently talked to Ratboys frontperson Julia Steiner about making the album with Death Cab’s Chris Walla and how all the extra pandemic time actually helped the band sharpen the songs before they got to the studio. If I’m understanding correctly, I guess her opinion is that the global pandemic was categorically good with zero downsides? (Her words, not mine!) We also talked about the origin of the name Ratboys which, to my extreme shock, was actually not taken from The Simpsons?? Towards the end, we got into a trippy conversation about where good writing ideas come from. From dreams maybe?? Our subconscious?? Stealing them from our past lives?? Hear us try to figure it out.
Listen to our conversation above or on Spotify, Apple, etc. And check out all previous episodes here.
The Window is out now from Topshelf.
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