Ratatat: LP4

Label: XL

It can be hard to do this job when a band that has so thoroughly established a presence returns with an album on which little has changed. (Pity me, yes!) But on LP4 (which is a far better title than the odd epigram on the back: "let your bird eat its beak"), the NYC duo Ratatat heightens everything that has made LPs one through three such hot topics on the indie scene: squiggly analog synths, crisp, simple-as-pie beats and sparely wielded guitar parts. The pair, guitarist Mike Stroud and producer/multi-instrumentalist Evan Mast, are also better at adorning their tracks: "Neckbrace" features coy vocal samples that recall techno titan Thomas Brinkmann's funky stuff, while "We Can't Be Stopped" toys with the tough-guy stance of its title and delivers instead a ruefullly cinematic and swooping piece sans beats but with plenty of lovely strings. For a band that has hardly changed, Ratatat is showing that they've got a deep satchel of tricks. (Bosco)