Photo by Miles Kalchik

Before the indie alt-country revival became a thing, Ratboys were already doing it pretty well on their own before the likes of Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, Greg Freeman, Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, and a host of others crowded the field in recent years. Thankfully, it’s a sound where the more there is of it, the better the rest of it sounds, and that’s something to look forward to this Friday when the Chicago quartet release their sweet new album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair.

We’ve already heard quite a couple of highlights on top of others beyond these pages from the LP so far, but its final preview, “Penny In The Lake”, ends the promo cycle on a shiny head’s up — especially after one hell of a long ass, emotionally decimating, brutally cold January — that feels like a warm embrace with an old friend through timeless twang and Julia Steiner’s positively sunny observations beaming onto shit luck. “There’s a penny in the lake / But it’s not what I thought / Just someone’s wish they forgot,” she sings. It may be a little rusty around the edges, but it shines just as well.

Directed by: Bobby Butterscotch

Ratboys’ Singin’ to An Empty Chair will be released February 6th on New West Records.