The band released its second album, GN, in 2017 and began gaining acclaim while touring with other rising acts like PUP, Soccer Mommy, Diet Cig, Wild Pink, and more.

"[5] Ratboys was formed in the fall of 2010 when Steiner and Sagan met each other at freshman orientation while studying at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

[6][7] In May 2014, Ratboys released two songs, Space Blows and Collected and embarked on their first small tour with future bassist Sean Neumann's band Single Player (later known as Jupiter Styles) that summer in a few cities around the Midwest.

[12] In June 2017, Ratboys released their second full-length album titled GN on Topshelf Records, which began to earn the band widespread media attention from outlets like NPR, Fader, MTV, and others.

[13][14][15] Rolling Stone named GN one of the "15 Great Albums You Probably Didn't Hear in 2017", writing that the "songs are full of shakily proud unburdenings and fun imagination.

During that time, Ratboys toured with bands such as Soccer Mommy, Pup, Diet Cig, Vundabar, Wild Pink, Slingshot Dakota, Pet Symmetry, and more.

Pitchfork gave the album a 7.7 rating and wrote that Steiner's lyrics give "a wistful metaphor for growing up" that fill the listener with "innocuous signifiers of the passage of time that carry weight only in the rare moments we pause to consider them."