The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville
Aww. Poor Ting Tings. From chart domination to laughing stock in such a short time. If they polarised critics between "aren't they annoying?" and "well I might as well listen to 'Shut Up and Let Me Go' since everyone else is" back in 2008, the only real element in their favour was mainstream coverage. In 2012, they stand as a band achieving only #23 in the album chart and #124 with its lead single. Not a great time to be a Ting Ting. And lo, the critics have attacked: Pitchfork gave the band a typically harsh 1.8, the Guardian a mere 2 stars and even the NME, who're usually quite partial to that whole kind of ironic-pop posing thing, a snooty (but not too snooty, since they were probably paid by their label not to be) 5/10. But is the backlash justified? Well, opener and single 'Silence' would appear so. Only 3:47 but feeling like 13 minutes, the track's hook is an 80s alt-pop riff that provides a dreary, heavy backdrop for Katie Wh...