The Ting Tings : We Started Nothing

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/thetingtingswestartednothing.jpg" alt=" " />The newest dance party out of Manchester, The Ting Tings, is simple but fun on their full-length debut, <em>We Started Nothing</em>....
7.8 Sony/BMG
2008 

  Both Jules De Martino and Katie White had done time in teen pop bands in their native England, before becoming disillusioned with the major label scene and starting their own hot ticket at The Mill, a big creative home in the Salford area of Manchester.  After hitting it big with a few singles, they’re back in the major label game, with We Started Nothing, which debuted at #1 in the U.K.  Their sound is straightforward but sure to get you moving, though they’re actually better when they rely less on technology.

Started starts with the one-two punch of their first two hit singles, “Great DJ” and “That’s Not My Name”.  The driving dance upbeat of “DJ” (featured on VH1’s Best Week Ever) is as catchy as all get-out, while “Name” goes one step further, thanks to some dance-girl-power.  The Ting Tings had really caught lightning in a bottle on those two, and similar tracks can’t quite match them.  Still, the brighter dance-pop of the following “Fruit Machine” is nice, and the more dance-tech attitude of their latest single, “Shut Up and Let Me Go” (the first to chart in the States, thanks to being in an iPod commercial) is strong.

“Shut Up” reveals the hidden secret of We Started Nothing: that The Ting Tings are better when they veer farther away from an electro-techno edge.  One would think those added gizmos would be a boon to the two-piece, where each does two or three jobs (De Martino, drums/guitar/vocals, White, vocals/guitar/bass drum).  But that crutch causes a loss of inventiveness, and sees Started wear down near the end.  “We Walk” has a strong beat, but the disco-dance piece has too little else, too staccato and serious.  The penultimate “Impacilla Carpisung” is the record’s most electronic track, and is its least remarkable.

But what makes this stand out is that, when the band plays more indie-rock, they’ve got the skills to pay the bills.  “Keep Your Head” has a bright, upbeat press, and “Be the One” is high, pretty, even carrying (kind of akin to an 80’s New Wave single you might find in a John Hughes teen movie); both are the least tech-saturated numbers on Started.  And the record ends on a high horn note with the anthemistic title track, which might be limited, but is fun.

Like other Manchester dance-acts, The Ting Tings don’t exactly reinvent their sound, but We Started Nothing is about having a good time, and that can’t be denied.  What’s more, De Martino and White are capable of being more than ‘just’ a party band, if they can trust themselves to go a little Luddite.

MP3 Stream: "Be the One"

{audio}/mp3/files/The Ting Tings – Be The One.mp3{/audio}

– David Michael Huang
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