After having “That’s Not My Name” on medium rotation for the past couple of months, I finally snagged myself a copy of the Ting Tings’ debut album, which apparently hit the top spot on the UK charts. Not surprising, really—We Started Nothing is an album that’s slightly less than half full of killer pop singles, but coasts for the rest of its 37-minute run. But whatever, it’s summer, right? Home of the bombastic action blockbuster and the dumb not-so-literary thriller novel? Of course the Ting Tings fit in perfectly.
It’s not nearly so evident on “Great DJ” or “That’s Not My Name,” but fast forward to “Shut Up and Let Me Go” and you might experience a wave of CSS-inspired deja vu. The combination of Katie White’s bratty persona, the vaguely awkward phrasings in the lyrics, and a beat that sounds like a third-generation photocopy of “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” recalls the Brazilian party band’s sound pretty accurately. But here’s the thing—I don’t actually like CSS that much. By logical extension, I shouldn’t like the Ting Tings either, because as far as I can tell the major difference is that the Ting Tings don’t namecheck other bands and celebrities, thus lowering the “ironic take on pop culture” quotient.
And I guess by the usual album-length dipstick, I actually don’t like the British duo much more than I like the Brazilian sextet. Even if it’s largely a matter of throwing more sounds and “ah-ah-ahs” into the mix, the eminently danceable singles work better than the somewhat half-baked mid-tempo pop songs. That’s not to say they’re particularly bad; “Be the One” sounds very pleasant and goes down easy. It just doesn’t have the same lively spark as the really snotty songs that have drawn me into their alluring trap, for better or for worse. I don’t care what Pitchfork says, and I don’t even care that it’s two minutes too long; for whatever reason “That’s Not My Name” sticks.
On the other hand, it’s the snottiness you’ll get tired of first, I imagine, which will be their downfall if they’re not careful. If the Ting Tings ever figure out how to leap over that hurdle, they might yet survive the fall of 2008.