Ratboys – “Go Outside”

SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 9; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With… Big Thief, Lisa Loeb, Great Grandpa 

In 2021, Ratboys released Happy Birthday, Ratboy to coincide with the band’s 10th anniversary. The album remixed some 2011 songs with new band members, and included some previous  deep tracks, as well as one new song. Thus, the album provides a nice overview of Ratboys range and evolution.  Their intimate folk pop have added dream elements and their indie rock has become infused with more feedback, grunge energy, and wider instrumentation, resulting in a more polished sound and dynamic live performances. 

However, like many albums recorded during the pandemic, Happy Birthday, Ratboys is more somber and reflective than Printer’s Devil which preceded it. Many, but not all of the songs, stay with a mid-tempo warmth that comes from orchestral arrangements and soft builds. A few of the arrangements stray towards a little experimental.  “Collected” lurches between a radiant chorus and a seemingly incongruous rocking out psychedelic guitar instrumental. Thus to my ear, Ratboys are still at their best when Julia Steiner’s wistful and sometimes plaintive voice is in equipoise with Dave Sagan and the band’s rugged indie rock instincts. “88 Fingers Edward” is a good example as Steiner nostalgic lyrics pair with an instrumental digression of soaring but not overwhelming guitars. That all being said, it’s the new song on the album, “Go Outside,” that really caught my ear. While Ratboys have experimented with slide guitar and rootsy influences before, “Go Outside” is a flat out alt country pop ramble that sheds all previous Ratboys songs’ cynicism or archness. Here, the song is an unironic and simple tribute to the great outdoors. It’s an earworm pretty much start to finish, as evidenced by Spotify streams moving towards 2 million. (David Zlotnick)