Chicago indie band Ratboys haven’t put out a new full-length LP since 2020’s “Printer’s Devil”, though it seems that something big is creeping along the horizon. In the band’s first single since 2021, “Black Earth, Wi” is an electric and ambitious eight-minute cut of heartland rock and roll. With an explosive solo, a saucy bassline and vocalist Julia Steiner’s perfect twang, Ratboys couldn’t have picked a cooler way to re-emerge. It’s not a stretch to call it the band’s best song yet; their 2017 breakthrough album GN feels like a lifetime of sounds ago. What Steiner and company have assembled is hypnotizing. When the quartet collapses into a sing-along harmony with the guitars around the six-minute mark, it’s ecstasy. “And if that mockingbird don’t sing / Watch her do the twist again / Does that Black Earth freak you out? / And if she’s twisted up too tight / Let the dawn cut through the night / Taken back, don’t leave me out,” Steiner sings, while the band takes us home.
Written by Ratboys
Julia Steiner – guitar, vocals
Dave Sagan – guitar, talkbox, backing vocals
Sean Neumann – bass, guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Nuccio – drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals
Chris Walla – piano
“Black Earth, WI” by Ratboys, released March 7th, 2023
The Fat Angel Sings 