The Ting Tings: We Started Nothing : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Both members of this U.K. pop duo — singer-guitarist Katie White and drummer Jules De Martino — used to play in second-tier teen-pop acts. Their earlier experiences clearly left them with harsh feelings about the music industry: De Martino has admitted that their thumping disco single "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is a breakup song written for their former record label, not an old flame. But those formative years also gave them an instinct for industrial-grade pop hooks, which is probably why Apple selected "Shut Up" for its recent iPod ad. On their full-length debut, the Ting Tings craft peppy New Wave that's relentlessly catchy: "That's Not My Name" is a Toni Basil-style chant-along fueled by a punk-funk groove, "Be the One" sounds like Blondie, and "We Started Nothing" dresses up a ripping break beat in sumptuous soul horns. The Ting Tings toss in enough untreated guitars, grrrl-power lyrics and subsonic Moog blurts to give We Started Nothing a certain edginess. But it's just a front: An album that's as joyful as anything by Gwen Stefani or Kylie Minogue doesn't need indie cred.