Live review: Ratboys (Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds) 6 June 2024

Marking the penultimate show of their 2024 European tour, Ratboys’ performance at Belgrave Music Hall is one to remember. Over the past six weeks, the Chicago indie rockers have covered a lot of ground, from initial North American dates, three headlining gigs at Brixton’s Windmill, to festivals at Primavera Sound and Best Kept Secret. Now, with a short hiatus in sight, the overwhelming feeling between band and audience is one of humble gratitude.

In 2023 Window, the band’s “post-country” sound reaches new heights, expanding the sonic palette in weirder, louder, and more infectious ways. Meanwhile, Julia Steiner’s composition is stronger than ever, a continuous exercise in introspection that navigates the conflict of the existence of blockage and the fleeting fragility of the freedom that follows.

As such, Window it is, well, an artistic window looking into a profound period in the band’s life. For this special show, the festive atmosphere is complemented by emotional support sets from Leeds Wormboys and Labor Girls Lande Hektboth acts respectively wearing their boisterous hearts on their sleeves.

In turn, the Ratboys begin their performance with Window opener, “Make noise for the ones you love”. Marcus Nuccio’s apache drumming, mirroring the pounding heartbeat, makes the blood flow over Belgrave. When the rest of the band joins in, the motorik percussion segues into a looser guitar groove, shifting seamlessly throughout.

Despite the country boom in contemporary indie rock, Chicagoans are no bandwagoners. Subsequent “Morning Zoo” it’s a testament to that familiarity, Julia’s ruminations on the small wonder of everyday life complemented by a heady yee-hawing riff. Dave Sagan’s effortless guitar style opens up new worlds, transporting us from an elevated industrial room in the heart of Leeds to the vast American West.

Seamless transition into ‘It’s alive!’ it further strengthens these pastoral, escapist qualities. Sean Neumann’s bass and Nuccio’s drums intertwine, beckoning the arrival of clear blue skies, Steiner’s tentative vocals mirroring the sun’s reveal. In turn, Sagan’s emphatic riff sweeps across the image like a distant vapor trail, in which a long-lost visual memory comes into focus.

True to its title, Belgrave is really alive (!) at the moment. Julia reminisces about the band’s history in Leeds, with four shows over ten years, each one slightly increasing in number. “My hands are growing” Pertinently follows, arpeggiating guitars and pillowy percussion giving way to a rhythmic coming-of-age story. There’s no doubt that 2010’s Ratboys – which began as a guitar duet between Julia and Dave – would struggle to believe the crowd in front of them now – “life in a living dream”, indeed.

Time flies and honoring the lost is at the forefront of the Ratboys’ honest crowd-pleasing catalog “Elvis in the Freezer” performances. This is the second tribute of the night, with Lande Hekt delivering a lovely ballad dedicated to her cat, Lola. In keeping with the reflective mood, Julia tells the story of her cat Elvis, frozen shortly after his death to ensure that Julia can attend the funeral. Balancing the tender line between weird and wonderful, “Elvis” delivers wholesomely, the crowd moved accordingly.

Talking about pets makes for a bad interaction between the band and the crowd. Ratboys. Powered by Wormboys. Supported by Ducks Ltd, recently interviewed by Soundsphere, for North American broadcasts. You get the picture. Julia speculates on the possibilities of this anthropomorphic indie-rock universe. “Maybe all the different guys… I don’t know, the horse guys, the frog guys, you name it, could get together for one show… It’s an idea.”

After delivering this performance-for-the-ages in reality, Nuccio picks up where they left off, drums on his feet, with a country-inflected rallying cry – “aaaaalllllllll tha’ boysss!”. Properly driven by roots ‘Go outside’ it’s ongoing, delivering sonic blues and poetic greenery like that of a sweltering summer hike. Over time, it’s clear to see why the band is feeling this particular song right now, as mentioned in our previous write-ups. Questions and answers.

When it comes to feeling, ‘Window’ delivers an emotional suckerpunch that certainly feeds off the healthy harmony between the band and the crowd. Written from the perspective of Julia’s grandfather, the song beautifully dramatizes his socially distanced final farewell to his wife through a nursing home window. With its singing hook and strong instrumental dynamics, a hair or two inevitably stands up. Despite the biographical lyrics, the crowd is able to recite the power-pop ballad word for word, creating a seamless connection between the personal and the universal.

Goosebumps abound, “Black Earth, WI” summon another whirlwind of emotions. Driven by the aimless highways of the American Midwest, the eight-minute epic is characterized by loose, nocturnal, psychedelic properties, culminating in Sagan’s grandiose guitar solo. Treading the delicate line between formal indulgence and virtuosic expression, the Wilco-inspired odyssey is unabashedly brilliant, bringing time itself to an effective standstill.

Indeed, Sagan’s controlled cacophony provides the perfect snapshot of here and now. As he meditatively drifts away, oblivious to his surroundings, the rest of the band settle into the groove and reflect, embracing the solace of the spectacle. The harmony of this moment – ​​between Sagan and band, band and audience – speaks to a group at its creative peak, expressive without the need for words.

This unpretentious dynamic is what the Ratboys do best. Freed from ego, the collective spirit is that of a kind, well-oiled group of friends doing what they do best. In the process, the Chicago four-piece captures the ineffable feeling found in any great concert; that of experiencing the not yet experienced.

In assembling one of modern indie rock’s most consistent discographies, Ratboys’ live experience comes as no surprise. With new album in the works, as Julia herself revealed, and that “all the boys!!” somewhere on the utopian horizon, Leeds can expect the quartet to return sooner rather than later.

More speculative, perhaps, is in what scenario one can expect their return: new album, new sound, new audiences, perhaps. After fourteen years of perfecting their craft, the Ratboys will stay true to themselves and the rest of the world will follow.

Setlist

“Make Noise For The Ones You Love”, “Morning Zoo”, “It’s Alive!”, “My Hands Grow”, “The Stanza”, “Elvis in the Freezer”, “I Want You (Fall 2010)”, ” Go Out”, “Space Shots”, “No Way”, “Window”, “Go Out At Night”, “Black Earth;, WI, “Sleep Masked Alien”, “Look At”