A band like Ratatat makes you really think. One of the questions I have is why do they have such bad bands open for them? Both Panther, a lone gent, and Envelope, a four piece with three guitars, are part of that re-energized thread of rock where effort is uncool (and I don’t mean unkool). They, and their fans I suppose, are content with mediocre songs, mediocre talent, and–the worst part–a half-ass attitude that provides those classical music critics of DIY legitimate grounds for attack. At least Envelopes are consistent with lines such as “We don’t care” that are repeated for most of the song.

Another question Ratatat raises is why don’t more young white people like hip hop? True, the proper question is why doesn’t everyone like hip hop, but that’s a different conversation. Here we have a band that blends a wide variety of music (metal, prog rock, jam band, ambient, electronica) while maintaining a core (instrumental) hip hop sound. This is exactly the type of bands that should be attracting anti-hip hoppers and converting them into die hard underground heads.

In the end, they performed a great show with tracks from both albums (they only have two, right?). The sound was good, stage presence solid (including Slash-like guitar playing and sounds), and show rocking–in spite of the overwelming number of youngin’s.