Ratatat

New York's duo Ratatat, who fuse rock with electronica and were once called Cherry, consists of multi-instrumentalist and programmer Evan Mast alongside guitarist Mike Stroud. Mast also created the polished laptop pop project E*vax and co-operated the indie electronic imprint Audio Dregs with his brother E*Rock. Stroud, meanwhile, contributed studio and live work to Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional. Despite these commitments and Mast's graphic-design career, the pair developed their joint material: Mast generated beats and song sketches in his bedroom studio, which Stroud then shaped during his travels. Although they started collaborating in 2001, momentum built in 2003 when the still-named Cherry played their debut show in May, adopted the Ratatat moniker in September, and issued a limited-edition first single of 1,100 copies on Audio Dregs that November. Subsequent support dates with Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, and Battles led to a deal with XL Records. Their self-titled debut album appeared in spring 2004, accompanied by further gigs alongside !!!, Electrelane, and Tortoise. Classics followed in 2006 along with a self-released remix collection. For their third album the duo shifted emphasis toward live percussion and keyboards while reducing their signature programmed beats and guitars; tracked over several brief weeks, LP3 emerged in July 2008. Two years later, in 2010, the more experimental LP4 arrived. After four years of recording across Jamaica, upstate New York, and their Brooklyn home studio, the band returned in 2015 with appearances at Coachella and Governor's Ball plus the April single "Cream on Chrome." Their fifth album, Magnifique, which includes a cover of the 1971 Springwater track "I Will Return," came out that July.