Ratatat.

FROM THEIR SHAGGY HAIR, scruffy beards and slender physiques, to their shy, reluctant replies and art school cred, Evan Mast and Mike Stroud could easily be written off as just another indie rock act, but thankfully they're not. They're the instrumental Brooklyn-based duo Ratatat, best known for the mess they're making out of rock and electronic music with their seamless blend of lo-fi hip-hop beats, baroque electro pop and arena rock guitar riffs.

The two originally met while attending Skidmore College in upstate New York. Mast was studying design, while Stroud was putting years of piano and guitar lessons to use and furthering his knowledge of classical music. After college Mast started Audio Dregs Records with his brother and recorded and produced his ambient debut Parking Lot Music in 2001 under his DJ name E*Vax. Stroud hit the road and toured with Dashboard Confessional and then upgraded to playing with Ben Kweller. After a brief stint in Portland, OR, Mast moved to New York City where Stroud was living.

"I saw Evan standing at a subway station and thought what the fuck is that guy doing here?" recalls Stroud over a drink at a restaurant near the Seattle club they're playing tonight with Mouse on Mars. "Soon after we started recording with one another more out of fun than with the intention of forming a band."

Given their vastly different backgrounds in music, both were surprised with what they were creating. Mast, the keyboardist, beatmeister, and bassist, is the hip hop lover, citing Timbaland, Jay Z and the Wu-Tang Clan as influences, while Stroud, the guitar virtuoso, favors '60s rock bands like The Kinks, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

Ratatat (named after a Dr. Dre lyric) built most of the songs on their 2004 self-titled, self-produced debut on XL/Beggars Banquet around a basic beat and layered keyboards and guitars over the top of it. But it was their freestyle beats that distanced the group from their electronic counter parts Daft Punk and Air and caught the attention of two local New York hip hoppers. MC Young Churf lends answering machine taped raps and rants as intros to the duo's record and Wu-Tang's Buddha Monk went on to collaborate with the group on a remix Mixtape of hip-hop favorites from Missy Elliot, Method Man and Ghostface (released on Mast's Audio Dregs). Even with the respect from a hard to win over peer group, Ratatat still hopes that one day they'll get the call from Timbaland or RZA wanting to remix their own record.

In the meantime Ratatat has set out to make the "most exciting electronic music ever" and see nothing unusual about two guys recording an instrumental record without raps, rhymes or vocals.

"Why can't it happen?" questions Mast. "We should be able to do whatever we want. So many people need a singer or MC to focus on, to lead them through the music. They should be able to lead themselves."

"This seems perfectly natural to us, it's a more direct connection with the music and the listener," adds Stroud. "In the '60s there were instrumental bands who had number 1 hits. I think audiences would be more open to instrumental music if they were exposed to it, but with how the music industry is now they probably won't know about us."

Mast finishes where Stroud leaves off. "Yeah, it means we're going to be less popular than a shitty rock band with a singer."