We Started Nothing
- The Ting Tings
- Band Name: The Ting Tings
- Record Label: Columbia/Red Ink
- Release Date: Jun 3, 2008
- Critic Score
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We Started Nothing comes packed with a peppy parade of songs likewise steeped in electro beats and chant-along vocals.
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80We Started Nothing sounds exuberant and chiefly concerned with pleasing itself. Which--as is always the way--only makes it more pleasing to others.
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80The singles--'Fruit Machine,' 'Great DJ' amd the electro Krautrock of 'That's Not My Name'--are supported by the equally impressive 'Shut Up and Let Me Go' and closing title track, all bouncing beats, shiny samples and an invigorating knack for a pop tune. {june 2008, p.109]
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The synth-punk shout-pop of this boy/girl duo was cobbled together in a Salford arts complex for a budget of zero pence. And--in a totally great way--it sounds like it.
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72Every song on this record pulsates with so many heart-thumping beats per minute, you'd think this was some newfangled cardiovascular exercise for ravers. [Spring 2008, p.99]
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On their full-length debut, the Ting Tings craft peppy New Wave that's relentlessly catchy.
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The Ting Tings are crafty, not naive, but they can fabricate elation.
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the album's inconsistency suggests that this heavily buzzing band--Nothing debuted at No. 1 in the UK--could've used a little extra time to finesse its spazzy sound into a more coherent pop treat.
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As a four-track EP, this would have made for an indelibly catchy collection; as an album, it plays like four lone meatballs awash in a pot of bland noodles.
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De Martino and White are on an unashamed mission to make perfect pop, but seem to have treaded the path too literally.
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60A party band to the core, the Ting Tings can't leave the dance floor without stumbling. [July 2008, p.76]
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60The creative tension between the two is their main strength. It's when one or the other gains the upper hand that things can go awry. [June 2008, p.143]
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60But after achieving a perfect strike rate on their singles, the Ting Tings' admirable quest for glossy, depthless pop perfection keeps coming up short.
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60What the Ting Tings do is make sunny, punchy pop songs, and what's more, that's something that actually do pretty well. How much lifespan there is in the project, however, is another question entirely.
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These glimpses of something unexpected are few and far between, much of We Started Nothing tonally muddled into a weird new form of MOR: cool for five minutes amongst the fashionable crowd but unlikely to reach audiences beyond those fascinated with the hot and happening.
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They're a singles band at heart, though, and they wear out their welcome all too quickly on We Started Nothing.
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40Sadly, though, nothing on The Ting Tings debut album quite lives up to that promise [of 'That's Not My Name']. [June 2008, p.94]
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40Snark aside, it's a shame that aside from a couple of notable exceptions, the album title is just about right.
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38Maybe once the Ting Tings stop trying so hard to convince everyone they're having a good time and start actually having a good time, these cute little ballads will no longer be their sole redeeming quality.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 13
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Mixed: 3 out of 13
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Negative: 2 out of 13