Ratatat’s Evan Mast and Mike Stroud don’t talk much on stage. Apart from a few mumbled words of gratitude to the packed-out crowd, barely a sentence was uttered during their 90-minute set at Capitol on Monday night. But make no mistake – the boys from Brooklyn had plenty to say.

Coming onstage a bit past 10pm, Ratatat got straight down to business in what was the beginning of a blistering sonic onslaught. Mast strapped on his bass and Stroud started to shred on his guitar, the duo surrounded by a collection of other instruments which included drum machines, keyboards, synthesisers and snare drums. Whereas Mast’s movements were stiff and deliberate, Stroud’s movements were loose and flowing as he sauntered around the stage and occasionally dangled over its edge. Contrasting in style for the most part, it was hard to tell the long-haired performers apart at the times when they joined forces to pound snare drums with devilish delight.

It’s hard to do the Ratatat sound justice on paper – it’s an aural assault featuring hip hop beats and glitchy, electro-inspired bleeps and samples, layered with soaring, psychedelic guitar riffs and muddy bass lines. The duo’s studio releases most certainly have a dynamic feel about them, but in a live setting the Ratatat sound expands and engulfs the audience, showcasing not only the power of the music but also some of the subtleties and intricacies that have developed in the Ratatat sound over recent releases.

Complementing the music was an engaging visual package put together by Mast. Thanks to a large screen behind the stage and smaller screens at the front corners of the stage, Schwarzenegger’s glory days were revisited onscreen with spliced clips from Predator. There was also mangled footage of ABBA, scenic vistas of snow-capped mountains and shots of slow boats travelling down the Mekong Delta. Varied only begins to describe the package, and that’s before you take into account the gyrating female dancers, the Victorian-era violinist and cellist, and some very disturbing parrots.

Given that Capitol was packed with a predominantly youthful but knowledgeable indie crowd, it wasn’t surprising that almost every track played by Ratatat was quickly recognised and applauded by the audience. The pair’s latest album, LP4, provided most of the tracks for the evening, with Bob Gandhi and Grape Juice City among the set’s early highlights. However, the main set successfully blended old with new, with the familiar strains of Loud Pipes and the powerful Wildcat (both off 2007’s Classics release) punctuating the middle section of the performance.

While it was shame that the duo wasn’t able to recreate onstage some of the famous remixes they have done (which include reworkings of artists including The Knife, Bjork and Kanye West), every studio album of Ratatat’s was referenced during Monday night’s performance. Mirando and Shempi were popular choices from 2008’s LP3, and the two song encore (which was loudly demanded by an enthusiastic crowd) was highlighted by the rendition of the duo’s debut single, Seventeen Years.

All in all, it was 90 minutes of multi-sensory stimulation. Inspiring, exciting, engaging and effortlessly hip, Ratatat showed why they are darlings of Brooklyn’s electro-rock scene. Enough said – where else would you rather be on a Monday night in Perth?