Forming as a duo over a decade ago and growing into a quartet, the Chicago group started out with more-than-solid records but took their greatest leap forward with 2023’s The Window. Emotionally driven and deeply personal but packed with fuzzy indie goodness, twangy riffs, and surprisingly sick solos, it set a new bar for Ratboys to clear.
They’ve done so and then some with Singin' To An Empty Chair, their sixth studio LP (first for country oriented New West Records) and best by some distance. The initiated will find everything they’ve come to love present and correct, and for new listeners, it’s the perfect primer for a band who mostly work in two modes: 90s-leaning alt-rock, and Americana that swaggers and swoons in turn. In the first camp is “Know You Then”, a punchy number with the LP’s chunkiest choruses; in the latter is “Open Up”, a sparkling pop cut that the Mutt Langes of this world would be proud to produce. And they’re not above mixing the two, either: for sheer earworm credentials, “Penny In The Lake” is solid gold writing, from its razor sharp trebley guitar lines to Julia Steiner’s singsong melody and some instantly catchy lyrics: “Peace and love to drive my car / Baby you’re my Ringo Starr.”
シカゴ出身のバンド
6th
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Ratboys perform a Microshow set at Cloudland Theater in Minneapolis for The Current
新作からのライブ。
声の嫌な感じがあまりないかも。
となると、新作アルバムの仕上げ方が残念。
Storm Chasers LTD Presents: Storm Licks - Ep1 - Dave Sagan of Ratboys
Mocambo Records has proved a bastion for contemporary funk & soul and now with the release of Turkish vocalist Peki Momés' self-titled debut, the label can boast yet another modern-day gem amongst their treasure trove.
Billed as running the gamut from psychedelia to Turkish disco, Momés delivers an outstanding debut that absolutely relishes within its engrossing soundscapes but is really catapulted to brilliance by Momés herself. A captivating presence in many ways, the vocalist playfully veers from enchanting to haunting but always the vehement focal point throughout the album.
Produced by Dustin Braun who has also contributed to projects by Malik Diao & Fred Red ('Monologue', Village Live Records), the producer's affections for an authentic analogue sound prove very much in line with the Mocambo aesthetic.
Peki Momés finds herself with some incredible support and further aided by a core line-up comprised of drummer Matthias Hetzer, percussionist Lukas Joachim and Braun himself credited for bass, keys, synth, percussion and guitar. Malik Diao rekindles his collaborative history with Braun as he tackles a variety of instrumentation throughout the album.