Consequence Top 30 Songs of 2023 (So Far): Ratboys #9
Our favorite tracks from a great six months in music
About 120,000 tracks are uploaded to streaming services every day; the number of choices is beyond overwhelming, effectively infinite. While some people might only tune in to a couple of playlists or radio stations, and a few big name artists seem to push their way into every earbud, beyond that lies an ocean of possibilities, and no two listeners can ever travel exactly the same musical waters.
Even as a staff, Consequence could hardly agree on a coherent list. We had so many more favorites we would have liked to include, tracks we geeked out about in Slack channels and passed around email chains. Our shortlist could have filled a full Zine without ads, and the 30 songs we wrote about could have very easily been 300.
More great songs will be released soon enough, and that makes it even more important to stop and celebrate the recent past. The music industry is moving faster than ever before, but here are 30 songs that made time stand still for at least a couple of minutes.
09. Ratboys — “Black Earth, WI”
It’s pretty amazing how much Ratboys accomplish on “Black Earth, WI” — doubly so knowing it was recorded straight to tape and the eight-and-a-half minute single is only take number two. Opening at an amble, it follows an indie/country combo rhythm that gets bent on jammy guitars taking over entirely only a quarter of the way through. Utterly smooth bass keeps your head bobbing as the guitar goes on a winding trip towards an unexpected, invigorating crowd chant of “da-da-da”s. It coasts in for a landing on the back of more tasty low-end and Julia Steiner’s sweet, twanging vocals. Okay, so saying songs take you on a journey is a cliché, but just let this one take the wheel for a bit and you’ll see why the platitude fits the beauty. — B. Kaye