Year-end list season is upon us, and one of the albums we suspect we’ll be seeing on multiple lists is Ratboys‘ The Window. (It just came in at #5 on Paste‘s list today.) We were wondering what albums the members of Ratboys liked most this year, and all four of them put together a list for us that ranges from their Topshelf labelmates Parannoul to Sufjan Stevens to Cory Hanson to Hotline TNT, with commentary on each pick.
See the band’s full list below. For more on The Window, read about some of the core influences behind it.
Ratboys’ Favorite Albums of 2023
Dave Sagan (guitar):
Parannoul – After the Magic
I love the overall sound and texture on this record (their first wider release in the U.S.). Everything sounds so fresh. It brings me back to my teenage years of word-of-mouth musical discovery. Like listening to Death Cab’s Transatlanticism for the first time, and then diving into Aphex Twin’s Drukqs. Sounds both auto-generated and tenderly deliberated.
Cobra Man – New Paradise I
This is a great little EP to put on while cleaning up the house for a party, and maybe leave on repeat the whole night. It bangs. It’s infectiously catchy but still epic enough to show your cool uncle.
Marcus Nuccio (drums):
Cory Hanson – Western Cum
I love the sonic landscape of this record — the guitars are huge and all-encompassing, much like the expanse of the desert. When certain riffs come in, I want to hear them repeat forever.
Hotline TNT – Cartwheel
This record reminds me of two of my favorite bands smashed together — Yuck and Ovlov. Exquisitely crunchy and redlined, while still melodic and sweet. Perfect music for the waning days of fall time.
Geese – 3D Country
I love the sound of a band deciding to throw conventions to the wind and truly be weird as fuck. The vocal stylings of these songs are perfectly unhinged and the rhythm section is locked in like a vision-quest. Psychedelically apocalyptic.
Julia Steiner (vocals, guitar):
Sufjan Stevens – Javelin
Sufjan has been my favorite songwriter for a long time, and, even within such a strong and memorable catalog, this new album’s at the top of the list. Sufjan’s capacity for honesty, empathy, nostalgia, and intimacy continues to blow me away and inspires me to be more present in my daily life.
Youth Lagoon – Heaven Is a Junkyard
This is definitely the album I’ve returned to the most in 2023. It already feels like an old friend. I love the warmth of all the instruments — the Fender Rhodes piano, the bass drum, the vocal harmonies… everything feels so comforting and reassuring.
Palehound – Independence Day
Has there ever been a breakup album that’s this much fun? Or that makes me smile like an idiot every time I hear it? This record is the one — it’s so fuckin’ awesome. The concentration of great hooks, riffs, clever lyrics, and cool production choices is off the charts from start to finish.
Sean Neumann (bass):
Gia Margaret – Romantic Piano
I’ve been so taken by Gia Margaret’s transformation to the role of mediator as much as musician on her latest album. It’s of the most conversational I’ve heard in a while, yet her voice takes backstage nearly the whole time (every one needs a listener, after all). Gia uses the environment around her to tell the story in the most observant of ways. Nature takes center stage when choirs of cicadas and birds sing, yet there’s a side-by-side snapshot of a more familiar world touched by humans when footsteps crunch in the snow or a door squeaks shut. And of course, the author’s voice breaks the fourth wall on “City Song” to take mental note of the power all these small witnessed moments have in shaping who we become. If “the joy is in getting real,” as the speaker on “2017” concludes, this full-on immersion has made me happily well-up enough times that I can easily call it my AOTY.
Feist – Multitudes
Leslie Feist f—ing ascended on Multitudes. Yes, Feist can cave your chest in like a black hole when it’s just her and a guitar, but she’s also never been afraid to simply grab you by the shoulders, look you in the eye, and use every tool in the toolbox to rock your dang head off. And she fully embraces that on this record. It’s liberatingly confrontational and honest in both word and sound. And the truth is Leslie Feist is one of the greatest and most captivating artists I’ve ever heard.
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Upcoming Ratboys tour dates here.
