Magnifique

Magnifique sounds essentially the same as Ratatat's previous four albums. Since releasing its seminal, self-titled record in 2004, the intrumental duo has undergone little to no artistic evolution. The production values are greater now, and guitarist/keyboardist Mike Stroud and bassist/keyboardist Evan Mast are a little better at playing their instruments, but Magnifique is exactly what fans have come to love and expect—only the fattest hip-hop beats, head-noddin' bass lines, dramatic dips and swells of synthesizer, and the exact same two-tone guitar effect. The music is still powerfully emotive sans vocals, often inducing nostalgia (see single “Abrasive”) when it's not balls-out strutting (“Cream on Chrome”). The record does hold a couple of surprises, most notably the mournful, space-cowboy steel string guitar featured on “Supreme,” and the circusy bounce of “Drift,” but Magnifique is mostly about bringing the party. The six-minute “Nightclub Amnesia,” for instance—with its absolutely nasty stutter-step riff played on velcro-fuzz guitar—is destined for remixing by vodka-slushie-slurping dance-club DJs. Magnifique may be more of the same from Ratatat, but so it should always be.