Creative

Footer Legal

Main

NavBar

Sections

Topics

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Talkhouse

10 years ago this April, Chicago’s Ratboys put out their first collection of songs. The RATBOY EP, consisting of five indie-folk dorm room recordings, was free to download on Bandcamp and humbly passed around to friends on social media. 
Cut to 2021, and Ratboys would normally be celebrating their 10-year anniversary on the road, playing a mix of songs from their very first release to their most recent, last year’s critically-acclaimed Printer’s Devil. Instead, just two weeks after the album’s February 2020 release and mere days before heading out on their first headline tour, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all touring to a halt. Despite not being able to play in-person shows for the past year, Ratboys has managed to stay busy by performing their music online via their own Virtual Tour series and by finding a different way to celebrate their first decade of being a band.

Ratboys

Music

Ratboys and Remember Sports Made Their New Record in the Same Room

Best of 2023: Sufjan Stevens’s Javelin Blew Ratboys Away

El Kempner Loves That Ratboy Shit

A Guide to Ratboys’ Happy Birthday, Ratboy

Loren DiBlasi is a writer and musician from New York. She is the bassist of post-punk band <a href="https://patio-bandcamp.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://patio-bandcamp.bandcamp.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1558011684779000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFJ9loT6K1Ygxmofcf9l1xKipQRiQ">Patio</a>. Her writing has appeared in MTV News, Vulture, and NPR Music.

Loren DiBlasi

How Artists Are Keeping DIY Alive in 2021