Independent record label located in San Diego, CA by way of Boston, MA. Started in 2006.
Hitting up South By Southwest this year? Topshelf Records will be returning to Austin Cheer Up Charlie’s for our official SXSW showcase on Thursday, 15th March. We have an awesome lineup this year featuring Gulfer, Queen of Jeans, Special Explosion, Ratboys, and No Vacation.
Julia sings and plays guitar Dave does everything else , Ratboys’ propulsive yet gentle sound is anchored by the ethereal voice of guitarist Julia Steiner, who sings with a combination of vulnerability and strength, while the band essentially longtime multi-instrumentalist Dave Sagan and drummer Danny Lyons provides a dynamic soundtrack of frenetic volume and powerful quietude. Within their stylistic range, Ratboys hint at the Folk/Pop energy of Clem Snide and The Innocence Mission and sonic territories explored by Juliana Hatfield and Smashing Pumpkins, with Steiner’s emotive vocals, intensely wrought lyrics and delicate guitar ministrations set against Sagan’s angular and often unbridled fury.
Ratboys began in Chicago nearly a decade ago, operating consistently as the solid core of Steiner and Sagan, with a revolving support cast around them. Since its recorded debut with the track “Spiderweb 2/8/09,” the band has dropped a number of solo and split singles, an EP and a pair of full-lengths — 2015’s AOID and last year’s spectacular GN. At the time of AOID’s release, Ratboys were operating with a traditional rhythm section, but by GN, the band was pared down to a trio, with Lyons on drums and Sagan handling bass, guitar and pocket piano (pedal steel, cello and other accompaniment was provided by guest musicians).
hey! we have some new music to share today! here’s an EP called ‘GL’ (aka Good Luck) featuring 4 songs about losing faith in your friends & telling the truth. a companion piece to ‘GN’ if ya dig. We really hope you like these songs & we’re So psyched to play em for you in person as we tour across the US and Canada in the coming weeks
released February 23rd, 2018
Julia Steiner – vox/lyrics, guitar
David Sagan – guitar
recorded & mixed by Mikey Crotty
drums by Brendan Smyth
pedal steel on ‘You’ve Changed’ by Pat Lyons
trumpet on ‘GL’ and ‘After School’ by Cody Owens
Ratboys have always been a good band. But, with GN, they became a great one. The way in which they blend alt-country with buzzy, borderline pop-punk shouldn’t work, but it totally does. Julia sings and plays guitar Dave does everything else. I didn’t think it was possible to top their debut album, but their growth is hard to ignore on their second release. This album peels off its layers bit by bit with every listen. Ratboys combines folksy roots, guitar rifts, and uncommon lyricism with a mesmerizing lead. Among one of my favorite albums of the year, easily
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Last summer, Chicago’s Ratboys released its debut album AOID, though that simple statement betrays how much work went into it. The band was initially launched as an acoustic duo, with Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan slowly building a membership around their songs, which took five full years to congeal. Now, Ratboys are moving at a quicker pace, as evinced by its latest single, “Not Again, the video for the song below, which sees Ratboys garage jam—inside Chicago DIY space, Gnarnia—turn into a paint-balloon war. It’s a video that gets a little messy, but shows that Ratboys are still doing a great job of crafting county-inspired indie jams.
“Not Again”, is the new single from Ratboys – available digitally from Topshelf Records. Julia Steiner commented on the video for the latest single .Released April 8th, 2016.
Ratboys are
vocals/guitar – julia steiner
guitar – dave sagan
bass/drums – will lange
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They’re—in a word ’twinkly.’ They have these complex guitar parts and very piercing guitars and riffs. You can tell that Ratboys grew out of screamo house show music culture. They have little vestiges of that. But they also have a very matured alt, almost country sound. There’s definitely some folk thrown in there. But Julia’s voice takes on this Best Coast, art-rock quality. She was telling me about how she loves Jeff Tweedy. We ended up talking about that for a while, because damn, I love Wilco so much. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is an alt-country record, and I see that same experimental vibe in Ratboys. And I love it so much. Watching them perform is just insane. They’ll have one song that’s a vibey, low dynamic song, and close with one that’s just feedback and chaos. They were engaging with the audience so much. You could tell the crowd was perpetually surprised by what was happening—just like I was when I listened to this record the first time. There’s a lot going on, and I really love it.
Julia Steiner – guitar/singing
Dave Sagan – guitar
Will Lange – bass
Pat Kennedy – drums
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