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Album Description: We Started Nothing is the debut album from The Ting Tings. Tipped in the top three of the BBC's Sound of 2008 poll at the beginning of the year, seemingly they have much to prove. However, The Ting Tings aren't about proving themselves; they are simply here to enjoy it. Making great British pop music - their way - is what they're about. Born of a desire to employ the DIY ethic from day one - Katie White and Jules De Martino escaped the industry trappings they once experienced in a previous band and went back to basics as a duo. They stripped back everything they thought they both knew about making music and the industry that revolved around every note. We Started Nothing is a debut album brimming with intuitive pop noise. It's pure garage-pop and once heard will in-bed itself into your subconscious for many days, weeks, months to come. Snappy choruses trade off against angular gutar work, whip smart drumming and a succession of loops that they create live with the use of delay pedals. Amazon.co.uk: The debut album by Salford's The Ting Tings comes hot on the heels of their No.1 single "That's Not My Name", a nugget of pop gold that comes on like a genetic splicing of Toni Basil's "Micky" and The Knack's "My Sharona". The bulk of We Started Nothing follows a similar formula, navigating a path between the smart, angular indie of CSS, Bonde Do Role, et al and the pop mainstream. Here and there, they pull it off perfectly: the stutter-rap of "Fruit Machine" sees vocalist Katie White leading on some poor sap with sultry charisma and lip-gloss sass, while the excellent "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is snappy dance-punk in the spirit of Blondie's "Rapture" or Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love". Elsewhere, they branch out with mixed results. "We Walk" builds from quiet flourishes of piano into a surprisingly steely manifesto: "Smash the rest up/Burn it down/Put us in the corner cause we're into ideas", sneers White. Rather less good is "Traffic Light", a light, jazzy number that employs a number of somewhat forced driving metaphors to describe a relationship hit the skids. Still, it's a debut with promise, and a string of good singles is nothing to be sniffed at. -–Louis Pattison Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-29
I dig this album
I found these guys after hearing "Not My Name" on the Tulane college radio station in New Orleans. I bought the album immediately and I listened to it in the car home to Houston 4 times yesterday. I don't know anything about these guys and reviews have not always been good, but I love this album and highly recommend it.
A couple of song reviews:
Not My Name - Awesome song. Sounds like a mash up of Dixie Cups (not Chicks), Yo La Tengo and Luscious Jackson. This song is a 5 minute pop gem. A tiny little manifesto. A crazy mish-mash in all the best ways. Plus I already danced my butt off to it in my living room.
Shut Up and Let me Go - Very reminiscent of "Birthday Cake" from Viva La Woman. (An awesome album, BTW) I have to guess the Ting Tings grew up listening to and loving Cibo Matto.
Great DJ - will get you off your bottom and on the floor.
Traffic Light - takes me on a fun, whimsical, slightly scary car trip. Reminded me, for whatever reason, of Abra Moore from Poi Dog Pondering and her awesome solo album "Strangest Places."
I like this album a great deal and thank the Ting Tings for brightening up my life during a tough time. You guys rock! Rating:
Date: 2008-06-24
Fun album from start to finish
The Ting Tings shot like a meteor onto the UK music scene in 2007, helped along by coverage from UK music rag NME. A year later, they reach to No. 1 in the UK singles chart and the debut album arrives.
"We Started Nothing" (10 tracks; 38 min.) starts off with the irresitable double blast of "Great DJ" and "That's Not My Name" (originaly released as a double-A single in 2007, and "That's Not My Name" re-released a year later, and reaching No.1 on the UK singles chart last month). But the fun doesn't stop there. The duo keeps things moving quite nicely, with "Shut Up and Let Me Go" (which reminds me of that song "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" of yesteryear), and it sounds like another sure-fire single to me. The second half of the album is not as strong, but still features several great tracks like "Keep Your Head", "Be The One", and in particular the closer, the 6+ min. title track, a great way to sum up the album.
In all, these songs just flow by in no time and before you know it you'll find yourself playing this again and again. "We Started Nothing" is not a grand 'artistic' statement, just an album with great fun, dance-along songs. I'll be catching the Ting Tings at the Monolith Festival (at the Red Rocks) in September, where they'll be playing the intimate WOXY-curated stage, and I can't wait to see how these songs will translate in a live setting. Totally unrelated, the internet-only station WOXY ("BAM! The Future of Rock'n'Roll!") plays these guys regularly, and they are the best source for indie music in the US, bar none. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-22
Great, Proper Fun
I think those that say they don't like this cd wouldn't like any band that was "the next big thing." Get over yourselves and just have some fun. This is Brit pop fun at it's finest. It's a little bit of The Primitives and The Sundays mixed in with some Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-18
Fun little collection of songs
Bought this after hearing them on Gossip Girl. It took a few listenings to realize the fun & addictiveness of their songs (except Traffic Light- it's a little annoying & gets stuck in your head), but now it's in constant rotation on my iPod. Feel good, fun music. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-11
Why I love Brits
The Ting Tings are the epitome of the fun and funky British pop. They've been in heavy rotation on my Ipod - I dare you to hear 'Fruit Machine' and not want to sing and dance along. What's it about Brits that they have such fun bands, and make pop music that doesn't sound cheap or embarrassingly mindless? Just for comparison, if you liked Lilly Allen, you should like The Ting Tings.
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