The Tings Tings come from Salford/Manchester and are Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drum) and Jules De Martino (drums, vocals). It would be easy to dismiss them for having such a dreadful name, but this is some catchy stuff...bratty electro-pop a la New Young Pony Club, CSS or Robots In Disguise. Although Katie and Jules were previously signed to major label Mercury Records as part of the three-piece Dear Eskimo, The Ting Tings are, as yet, unsigned. And this, apparently, is by choice. They are renowned in their vicinity for throwing some huge house parties to which, in recent times, music biz execs and A&R men have been turning up by the score.
They released double A-side That's Not My Name/Great DJ earlier this year and this, to date, remains their only release (on Manchester's Switchflicker), save for the song Fruit Machine, of which there was a limited pressing of 500 seven inch singles, which was only available at three of their gigs. Prior to the release of Fruit Machine, The Ting Tings, at four shows, stuck 100 blank 7-inch sleeves to the wall as a makeshift canvas, which they then invited their fans to 'decorate'. This 'artwork' then became the sleeves for the single. An interesting idea...and one which you can have a bit of a squizz at here.
That's Not My Name is ridiculously catchy, and really caught on when they played their (fourth ever!) show at Glastonbury earlier this year. The most obvious comparison is to Toni Basil's Mickey...hand claps and all! The flip-side of the single, Great DJ, sounds more like New Young Pony Club's Ice Cream, which is a good thing, save for the fact that I have simply heard that song so many times that I never need to hear it again (which is a shame, as it is really rather good).
They have 8000+ friends on their MySpace page; not bad for an unsigned act eh? Ones to watch it would seem.
Download: The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Visit The Ting Tings on MySpace to hear more songs.
Whilst we are on the subject of Manchester-based acts, I shall use this opportunity to give a brief plug to my mates' band Random Pam. Again they are quite electro, but this time a bit more DJ/club-based. Their music isn't (yet) perfect, but they are all very talented, with a sound understanding of music (e.g. Charlie attended music college, where she trained in opera) and I reckon that they will continue to get better and better. Give them a listen here.
5 comments:
That girl in the photo kinda looks like Britney Spears.
I can see what you mean with that photo, but nah...look them up in Google Images and you'll see that she doesn't really. How's tricks?
Hey lady, i'm listening to their "We Walk" track as we speak from their myspace and am really enjoying it! It has a really catch beat goin on...
I love the "That's Not My Name" song I playe dit on my show last week ;) it has great lyrics, I didn't realise they were unsigned though! x
Thought you'd like them BB...album planned for next year I hear, so keep your ear to the ground :o)
Moonlight...Unsigned by choice, it sounds like. It seems they are waiting for the right deal, as previously they had difficulties with their record company.
Catchy stuff innit? x
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