Ratatat Release New Record, Still Sound Like Ratatat

If you were feeling a little lazy, a little crass and a little unbound by racial sensitivity you could call Ratatat the "white Neptunes." On the surface the shoe fits. The literally and metaphorically white Ratatat deliver a bit more consistently when they dwell closer to the realm of indie electronica than the Neptunes rock pet project N.E.R.D. The Neptunes have actual gigs producing for top emcees while Mike Stroud and Evan Mast of Ratatat have thus far only dabbled in (sometimes brilliant) remixes.

It is undeniable that both Ratatat and the Neptunes revel in their distinctive sounds. To someone who has listened to Ratatat's 2004 eponymous debut and its follow-up Classics, Ratatat's most recent effort, fittingly titled LP3, still sounds like Ratatat. Similarly if you have listened to a Clipse album or a good portion of mainstream radio (up to twenty percent of British radio), you know the Neptunes sound.

Ultimately reducing the parallels between Ratatat and the Neptunes to labeling the non-superstars "white Neptunes" is a disservice to both twosomes. On LP3 Ratatat continue to develop and play within the niche they have carved out for themselves. If Classics was an epic soundtrack fitting of its title, then LP3 is Ratatat brooding and prodding.

LP3 plays with mood more than Classics or Ratatat ever attempted to. Opener "Shiller" is the first truly foreboding Ratatat track and for that reason is an odd choice for their first single. "Flynn" has a tropical hook but the mood is complicated by ominous background echoes. "Falcon Jab" and "Mirando" are encouraging steps towards merging Ratatat's two disparate personalities that respectively crank out hip-hop bangers and marching electronica. On the second half of the record "Mumatz Khan" and "Gypsy Threat" respectably add tribal drums and klezmer folk to textures familiar to the band.

Stroud and Mast do slip up a few times along the way through LP3. "Bird Priest" is a lazy romp that could have been a filler track on either of the duo's previous albums, and "Imperials" begins with an out of place beach sample of waves crashing only to never find an identify. In all, LP3, like Classics before it, is a nice next step albeit absent any hint of serious transition. It is a good album but I am a little curious what else Ratatat can do.