Ratboys – Singin’ to an Empty Chair (Deluxe)
“The Year of the Ratboys” (SPIN) continues. Today, they announce Singin’ to an Empty Chair (Deluxe), out Sept. 18 via New West Records, and unveil their NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Following its release earlier this year, Singin’ to an Empty Chair received universal acclaim from fans and critics, including a Pitchfork profile and “Best New Music” review and praise from the likes of the New York Times, NPR Music, Rolling Stone, and Variety, the latter summing it up nicely: “Ratboys are experts in making the simplest rock songs sound vast and atmospheric.”
The deluxe version of the album features covers of select tracks by some of the most beloved names in indie rock, including PUP, Ducks Ltd., Wild Pink, Bad Bad Hats, and Free Range. “We thought it’d be fun to cover one of our favorite songs and then to ask some of our closest friends and biggest inspirations in music to put their spin on some of our new songs,” says Julia Steiner. “It’s a total trip and such an honor to hear the album songs transformed into something new entirely, and we can’t say thank you enough to our pals for making it happen.”
Today, the band presents their cover of “Fix My Brain” by The Marked Men recorded during a SiriusXM Session. Steiner elaborates: “The guys, especially Marcus, were already long-time fans of The Marked Men (and of Jeff Burke’s other band Radioactivity), but when I first heard it more recently, ‘Fix My Brain’ was a total revelation to me. I hyper-fixated on the song in ways that are pretty rare for me these days: I would find excuses to steal away and listen to it on repeat, and, when we got home from tour, I immediately sat down with my acoustic guitar to learn the chord changes.”
When it came time to choose a cover to perform for our SiriusXM live session earlier this year, it was a no brainer (ha) to finally give this one a go, and it still feels so fun to play it and so hopeful to sing the lyrics about having the guts to admit your mistakes and do better. That sincerity is so badass, and so catchy, and it jives perfectly with what we try to achieve in our own songs.”
For their Tiny Desk Concert, Ratboys played fan favorite “Black Earth, WI,” from 2023’s The Window as well as Singin’ to an Empty Chair’s “Penny in the Lake” and “What’s Right?”.
This moment shows Ratboys at their best, as Steiner’s honeyed voice is bolstered by pedal steel, righteous guitar, and a locked-in rhythm section. Their Tiny Desk Concert makes it clear – Ratboys are “the most promising Chicago band of the moment” (Chicago Tribune).
Ratboys are capping off a run of European tour dates, including a sold-out London show and an appearance at End of the Road Festival. Later this month, they’ll visit cities they haven’t played in support of Singin’ to an Empty Chair. They’ll finish off the year with their biggest headlining hometown show to date on Dec. 19th at the Salt Shed.
Ratboys Tour Dates
Wed. Sept. 9 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
Fri. Sept. 11 – Asten, NL @ Misty Fields
Sat. Sept. 12 – Leffinge, BE @ Leffingeleuren Festival
Fri. Sept. 18 – Cincinnati, OH @ Fountain Square
Sun. Sept. 20 – Camden, NJ @ XPoNential Music Festival
Fri. Sept. 25 – Nashville, TN @ WNXP Summer Line Series
Sat. Sept. 26 – Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Fest
Sun. Sept. 27 – Ferndale, MI @ DIY Street Fair
Thu. Oct. 8 – Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre – Souvenirs: 80 Years of John Prine
Wed. Oct. 14 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl *
Thu. Oct. 15 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird *
Fri. Oct. 16 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note *
Sat. Oct. 17 – Little Rock, AR @ Harvestfest
Sun. Oct. 18 – Birmingham, AL @ Lakeview Marina *
Tue. Oct. 20 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club *
Wed. Oct. 21 – Charlotte, NC @ Visulite Theatre *
Thu. Oct. 22 – Chattanooga, TN @ The Parlour at The Signal *
Sun. Nov. 22 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital
Sat. Dec. 19 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
*=w/ Smidley
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