Ratatat

Maybe it's just the shrieking panther samples, but listening to Ratatat can make a person feel like he's creeping through a jungle and a dance party's about to pounce. The group's exotic mash-up of rump-shaking beats, autoharp, video-game blurts and dual-lead-guitar shredding is instantly recognizable and proprietarily awesome. The absence of vocals can be a letdown at first, but this is music built for dancing, or at least hazardous head-nodding. Who the hell else can boast dope remixes of both Animal Collective and Young Jeezy? Rumor is these guys are being courted by the Neptunes' Star Trak Entertainment label, so catch 'em now before they blow up like Lil Wayne.