It’s four years since their extremely successful debut album. But then again it’s not easy to hone perfect dumb-ass pop music from just two or three major chords while still making it shine like a new gold coin. The art of simplicity is a complex thing: in the Ting Ting’s case it’s about paring down, resisting overt sophistication, sounding freshly squeezed rather than made-from-concentrate, and being in your face without getting on your nerves. So has the long gestation period and rejection of a whole load of material they weren’t happy with resulted in another swaggering, kicking bag of hits?
Well, to start with I admire its brevity: 10 short, sharp songs come and go in a mere 33 minutes, ending with a strikingly stark (for the Ting Tings anyway) violin-accompanied ballad unlike anything they’ve done before. And for another, the nine tracks before it sound pretty much like the Ting Tings you know and may possibly love. Against my better judgement (which is how it should be) I grew to love “That’s Not My Name” and “Shut Up and Let Me Go”. Even after massive overexposure these two playground anthems still sound stroppily bubblegum-perfect to my ears.
Whether there are any songs here as timelessly glamtastic will only become evident when they’ve sufficiently tested our patience by invading every public space with piped music. For great pop tunes can’t be quantified by instant critical assessment – they sneak up on you, seduce you, and then possibly end up driving you insane. But on initial exposure, "Silence" has a compelling Indian raga/Phil Spector/Eurythmics vibe, and “Hit Me Down Sonny” is a bonkers cocktail of Blondie and MIA which was still buzzing agreeably around my head as I tried to find desiccated coconut in Sainsburys.
Watch the official video for 'Silence'