This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 5:46 pm and is filed under New Music, SXSW, Downloads / Streams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Her name is Katie White. Not Stacey, not Jane, not “her” or any of that other stuff she rap-sings in the wonderfully addictive single “That’s Not My Name.” White is blond, stylish, and when she’s not rockin the mic, she straps on a guitar and fronts the Ting Tings, the critically acclaimed duo straight outta Salford, U.K.
Her dashing drummer, Jules De Martino, supplies backing vocals. Together, the Ting Tings have created a dynamic, fresh sound evoking ’80s hooks at the right moments, all of which earned them a rightful place on year-end Top 10 critics’ lists all over England in 2007.
Only problem is, unless you live in the U.K., you won’t (for now) be able to buy any Ting Tings off iTunes, including “That’s Not My Name.” (But if you make it after the jump, there might be something special awaiting you.)
Speaking of names, in a recent interview with NME — which recently praised the duo as being “by far the best pop band the UK has produced in years” — White explained that the band name comes from an actual person. “I used to work for a girl called Ting Ting. We didn’t really decide to be a band but everybody said they liked us so we decided to pick a name and Ting Ting was it. Then we Googled it and found out that it meant ‘the sound of innovation on an open mind’, so we just thought screw it let’s call us that!”
Signed to Columbia Records UK, the Ting Tings will be making a quickie tour around the U.S. next month, including a stop at the Rec Center Studio in Echo Park and a primo spot with the KCRW showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Word is they have only 10 songs in their repertoire, so don’t be late.
– Tony Pierce
3/9 @ Vera Project, Seattle
3/10 @ Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco
3/11 @ Rec Centre Studio, Echo Park ($10)
3/12 @ KCRW showcase @ Buffalo Billiards, Austin, Texas
3/14 @ Stubb’s, Austin
3/18 @ Great Scott, Boston
3/20 @ av-erie, Chicago
3/21 @ Le Royale, Brooklyn, N.Y.
|| “That’s Not My Name” (on youtube)
|| “Great DJ (Calvin Harris Remix)” (mp3)
“Great DJ” video
Ting Tings @ Myspace
Photo courtesy Columbia Records
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