KEY POINTS:
The simple reason Ratatat are an instrumental duo from New York is because neither Mike Stroud nor Evan "E*vax" Mast can sing.
"So we're just using the tools available, I guess," laughs Mast, on the phone from his Brooklyn apartment. They've just got back from playing in Mexico City and the pair are in New Zealand next week for gigs in Auckland and Wellington.
There's also a deeper answer to why they play instrumental music.
"You don't have lyrics, or a singer telling you what the song is about, so it just comes down to direct emotions and I find that more interesting. There's a lot more possibilities," Mast says.
He and Stroud met at college in upstate New York, then moved to the city, started making music together and formed Ratatat in 2001.
"I think we complement each other well because I'm more into the production and stuff and Mike's more into the theory so if I have an idea for a melody or something I can show it to him and he'll be able to figure it out. I'm not particularly good on any instrument and I still get nervous if I have to perform them," Mast laughs.
"And our tastes in music are virtually the same.".
Early on, for Mast, that music was Michael Jackson ("I think there were three years there where I don't think I knew other music existed beyond Michael Jackson."); then, aged 10, he started buying records and was into the Fresh Prince and the Chili Peppers ("And some other horrible music for a few years."); and finally indie rock, like Pavement, "turned things round a lot".
Eventually the group's music started to evolve and the result was 2004's self-titled debut which was an inventive mix of dance, rock and twisted electronica. One track especially, Seventeen Years, got them noticed and they hit the road with bands like Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, and the Killers.
After that busy time they retreated to the tranquility of the countryside to record much of their second album, Classics, which came out last month.
Adding further to the pair's growing star status, they stayed in Bjork's house "out in the woods" during this time. ("I've met her twice, and Mike's girlfriend works for her doing makeup," Mast laughs.)
He admits that on the debut album the pair were finding their way and establishing the blueprint for Ratatat's sound. However, on Classics they wanted to see how far they could push it.
"We wanted to make the sound palette more broad and make it more organic, instead of looping the different parts we're playing, we play all the way through the song, and it gives it more of a live feel.
"So it's more varied, and more complicated which has a lot to do with keeping ourselves entertained during the writing process because one of the things I like to do in songwriting, to make the song exciting, is make unexpected changes where it takes a big turn in one direction. A lot of the time though it doesn't work so it's easier to edit out, or start over again."
One of the most noticeable things about Classics is its animal sounds. Being out in the woods was obviously an inspiration. "There was just tonnes of wildlife everywhere you looked. The first morning I was there I was making my coffee and there was a huge deer standing 10 feet away outside the window. Everywhere you looked there was some sort of animal so we just started bringing little animal sounds into the drumbeats and it evolved from there."
Wildcat, with its naughty and recurring "rooaarrr" sample, is the album highlight and will get the masses dancing next week.
Mast is uneasy about letting us know where the sample came from.
"I shouldn't really reveal my sources," he laughs. Is that a golden rule?
"It might just be a legal thing.
"But we wanted to make a really fun song. It was intended to be something light rather than nasty. We were also trying to keep the album dancey, the first couple of songs we made especially were pretty dancey, but once we got super-involved in making the record it started to get a bit weirder."
What better excuse do you need to leap into your catsuit on a Monday night for a boogie with New York's finest?
* Ratatat - instrumental duo from New York at the Kings Arms, Auckland, Monday; San Francisco Bath House, Wellington, Tuesday.
* Albums: Ratatat (2004), Classics, out now.
