The south suburbs loom large in the recent history of Chicagoland indie rock, and not just because they gave the city two of its best recent exports, Nnamdï and Ratboys. Oak Forest native Kyle Lang, for example, got into the local scene by playing house shows in the south suburbs with his band Easter, where […]
Tag: Ratboys
Posted inMusic
Ratboys celebrate their tenth birthday in a virtual living room at Schubas
Ratboys celebrate their tenth birthday in a virtual living room at Schubas, Northwestern’s New Music Conference returns in online form, and more.
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Floatie finally release their long-finished first album
Chicago “frog rock” four-piece Floatie talk about the lost year of COVID, finding inspiration in adventure novels, and their complicated but congenial songs.
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Rapper Matt Muse runs a second Love & Nappyness Hair Care Drive
Rapper Matt Muse runs a second Love & Nappyness Hair Care Drive, a new compilation of 46 local artists benefits Chicago Community Jail Support, and more.
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Ratboys have been forced off the road, but they’re still on the rails
Chicago indie rockers Ratboys recently released their best album yet, and though they can’t tour, they’re finding ways to stay connected to their fans.
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Nnamdï grows up on Brat
Prolific musical polymath Nnamdï uses his new solo album to teach himself something about work-life balance.
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A new Chicago indie-rock comp benefits Brave Space Alliance and Black & Pink
A new Chicago indie-rock comp benefits Brave Space Alliance and Black & Pink, Anna Holmquist of Bad Songwriter Podcast drops an album with their band Ester, and more.
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Chicago’s Ratboys become the toast of the national indie scene with Printer’s Devil
Guitarist-vocalist Julia Steiner and guitarist David Sagan met as first-year students at the University of Notre Dame in 2010, and they’ve since become ingrained in Chicago underground rock. Under the name Ratboys, they made themselves a home in the emo scene in the mid-2010s, playing country-flecked indie songs and drawing in a couple prolific collaborators […]
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Drummer Tim Daisy hits a hot streak with his record label
Drummer Tim Daisy hits a hot streak with his record label, indie rockers Jupiter Styles celebrate a star-studded sophomore album, and more.
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Dusty Groove is selling off thousands of LPs for a dollar each
Dusty Groove sells off thousands of LPs for a dollar each, anonymous local dark-ambient producer Faithful drops a free EP, and more.
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Singer-songwriter Micha on an old song for Puerto Rico’s new struggle
Current musical obsessions of singer-songwriter Micha, Half Gringa front woman Izzy Olive, and Reader staff writer Leor Galil
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On GN Chicago’s Ratboys show the unquestionable connection between emo and country
In April I was caught off guard when the New York Times previewed a Pinegrove show by saying, “On paper, this six-piece New Jersey band shouldn’t work, but its blend of country and emo somehow does.” That straw man is predicated on the idea that two genres built on guitars and deep subversive histories have […]
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Amazing, dreamlike photos of Saba, Noname, Ne-Hi and more at SXSW
Photographer Brittany Sowacke uses double exposures and prisms to give her concert shots an otherworldly beauty.
Posted inBlogs
Switch on with the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was designed by Ratboys guitarist Dave Sagan.
Posted inBlogs
A creative defacing of Trump graces the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was designed by local artist and comic Sarah Squirm.