Last week, I did a long interview with Julia Steiner, leader of the truly kickass Chicago indie rock band Ratboys. I'd met Steiner once before, and I already knew she was a Steelers fan, so I made sure to put on a Lamar Jackson jersey before I jumped on the Zoom call. As soon as she saw me, Steiner was like, "Are you wearing a Ravens jersey? Dude, what the hell?" Then she jumped up and grabbed a Steelers scarf, and she kept it on for the whole interview. I respect it. I hate it, but I respect it.
Steiner also wears a Steelers hat in the video for the new Ratboys single "Penny In The Lake," so she real about repping her reprehensible team. On Friday, Ratboys will release their new album Singin' To An Empty Chair, and it absolutely fucking rules. The year is young, but that's by far my favorite album of these first few months of 2026. You can already hear a good chunk of that album, since Ratboys already shared the singles "Light Night Mountains All That," "Anywhere," "What's Right?," and "The World, So Madly." Now, "Penny In The Lake" is out there, too.
"Penny In The Lake" is a sunny, twangy, extremely welcoming tune with lyrics full of disconnected imagery. Bobby Butterscotch directed the song's music video, which has the band playing on a soundstage. I like how the end credits make it clear that all the roles of the Ratboys members are played by the actual Ratboys members.
The interview that I did for Julia Steiner was for Stereogum's Footnotes feature, so we talked about every song on Singin' To An Empty Chair. The full story will show up on this website on the same day that the album comes out, but I might as well offer a quick preview now. Below, check out the "Penny In The Lake" video and the part of the interview where we talked about that song.
You were talking about this song as sort of a drunken freakout.
JULIA STEINER: It's not even a freakout, really. It's just sort of watching the world go by in the backyard. This is the only time that I can recall actively working on a song outside. I don't usually carry my guitar with me wherever I go, but for whatever reason, it was a summer day and I had my guitar in the backyard and just sort of started jamming and had this idea that it'd be fun to just observe. I feel like most of my lyrics aren't very observational iin the literal sense. It's maybe emotionally observant. But this song, I was just like, "What's happening around me?" Oh, there's bugs everywhere. We have a berry tree in our backyard that's just completely out of control, and literally berries are dropping from the sky. I think a berry dropped on my head. I was literally amongst the creatures and the plants out back.
I love songwriters who have that free-association style, like Steve Malkmus. I thought it'd be fun to try to lean into that rather than any sort of narrative — more of a tableau of a fun, lively summer day in the backyard. That's the vibe for me.
This one seemed the most like a drug song, potentially.
STEINER: I dig it, man. I mean, anyone could play the song on guitar. Three chords. You can be drunk and play it, or on drugs. I have faith. It's very approachable and psychedelic and fun. Also, just being in the moment. Like, I'm gonna say some random thing, and it's gonna make sense to me now. It might not make sense to me in three hours. There's no rules. You can write about literally anything, so it's fun to embrace that.
What does "baby, you're my Ringo Starr" mean to you?
STEINER: Oh my god. I mean, I love Ringo. I gotta be transparent. I didn't have a specific person in mind when I was writing that, but I think if anyone was to be my Ringo Starr, it means that you maybe don't get as much credit as you deserve. You have a lovely, affable presence and add an underrated aspect of joy and coherence and unity to any situation that you're a part of. I think Ringo's a genius, and he should be shouted out more. I was grateful that Marcus did the "Come Together" rolls as a little shoutout.
Do you have a favorite Beatle?
STEINER: Paul. Sorry, Ringo. Ringo is probably my number two. I got to see Paul for the first time back in November with the Beths, which was so fun. We went together, and it was a dream come true.
Singin’ To An Empty Chair is out 2/6 on New West. Ratboys just announced a hometown show at Chicago's Beat Kitchen on the same day that the album comes out, with all the proceeds going to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Albany Park Mutual Aid.
