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The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
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On paper, it shouldn’t really have happened. Jules de Martino, an ageing veteran of various turgid indie-rock no-hopers, and Katie White, a failed popstrel with girl group TKO – that’s Total Knock Out - were unceremoniously dumped by Mercury Records in their guise as Dear Eskimo a couple of years ago. Now they’ve come back with a strong contender for the best pop album of the year.
By now your internal jukebox will probably have its needle terminally stuck on their current hit ‘That’s Not My Name’ – a four-minute DIY-sounding burst of ‘My Sharona’ guitar riffing and Bow Wow Wow-esque vocal chants that’s set to become the soundtrack of the summer. Of course, there’s always a danger that we might end up with an album full of disappointing fillers.
But here’s the good news: they’ve got at least another eight irresistible songs in them. From the infectious, shouty bubblegum punk of ‘Shut Up And Let Me Go’ through to the chugging, in your face pop- psychobilly of ‘Fruit Machine’, every song’s an absolute winner.
Even ‘Traffic Light’ - which has Katie White somewhat confusingly pleading “Don’t you be a traffic light/Don’t you be a roundabout…” to her man over a tinkling Working Men’s Club-style keyboard – works brilliantly, and is utterly charming.
Despite their knack of filling the pages of the NME, The Ting Tings actually have a lot more in common with straight, out-and-out pop music than something four white guys in skinny jeans might throw up. We Started Nothing is like a DIY, guitar-driven compliment to Girls Aloud’s 2005 Chemistry album – and that can only be a good thing.
Stewart Turner
