Ratatat has made a name for themselves with some off the wall instrumental arrangements that feature some great beats and a general throwback nature. Their last album featured some very 80s infused tracks that built upon kind of stereotypical hair rock riffs and conventions combined with some dance beats to come up with a bizarre yet fascinating group of songs. Once again they are back spinning their instrumental magic with their latest release LP4. They certainly have an undeniable penchant for the bizarre and absurd, and that does not change on this record, but they have taken a decidedly different path with the creation of these songs than what we have heard before and what we might expect. Part of the fun of Ratatat was that they were clearly having fun with a very over-indulgent, fun type of music anyway, basically strange 80s sounds and riffs. On this record however, they have embraced more of a world music type of vibe and it is a more diverse record musically than before. While the diversity is nice, it doesn’t come off as quite as satisfying an experience as before.
The band has really previously perfected that kind of not really nostalgic music, but evoking that same feeling. So while it doesn’t sound anything like the music that they clearly take some inspiration from or poke fun at, it still has that ethos and somehow evokes your own personal response to that. For this album they have taken a much wider view and used some more different instruments and different arrangements from strange harpsichord riffs to odd Bobby McFerrin esque vocal sampling. This band has always reveled in the weird and off beat, but in some ways they maybe have taken those to a place on this record where it doesn’t feel as fun and familiar as you would hope.
The songs are all done very well and once again there are some very good, riff-tastic moments on the album, but it is more subdued, more broadly painted than its predecessor and it makes the album a little more of an enigma and less of a high-five inducing bizarro nostalgia fun record. They certainly continue to produce things that no one else is doing out there, and they maintain their uniqueness and originality perfectly here, but where before their kind of strange yet familiar sound has become a little more strange and a little less familiar, and the songs don’t stick with you as well as some previous ones have. That being said, if you have enjoyed the prior work, I think there is still a lot to like here, but they are certainly trying to forge out into a bit of a broader focus I think which will probably be better in the long run, but on this album it just feels like it isn’t quite there yet. It is ultimately not as satisfying a group of songs as we have gotten from these guys before.
