Listen To This Before Your Next Nerd Date: The Ting Tings Sep25

Share This

Listen To This Before Your Next Nerd Date: The Ting Tings

.

A blogumn by Clark Perry

Face it, dates can be awkward. You’re going to spend a few hours with someone you may not know at all. Your desire to feel comfortable and make your date feel the same might just backfire.

Maybe they’re as self-conscious as you are. You want to hurry up and relax and not overcompensate. There’s nothing worse than coming across forced or over-enthusiastic. It’s a careful, attentive dance we do when we date.

It’s best to get on a topic you know something about, something you can share. Politics can be tricky if you don’t know someone. Go for the arts instead. Music is great because you can actually share it in real-time.

Ask your date if they’ve heard the Ting Tings. If they haven’t, you can turn them on. Pull out your iPod or other magic gadget and fire up one of the catchier tracks from their debut CD “We Started Nothing” (I recommend “Good DJ,” “Fruit Machine” or the head-bobbing title cut). If you really wanna show your savvy (not to mention your age), pull up Toni Basil’s thumpin’ 1982 New Wave hit “Mickey Mickey” and compare the drums to those you hear in the Ting Tings’ “That’s Not My Name.” See what I mean, below.

This Brit-based duo makes infectious and shimmering pop magic, a crunchy blend of sassy girl vocals, headstrong percussion and shimmering, happy guitars. They play all the instruments themselves and, at their gigs, trigger wave after wave of music samples and vocal overdubs.

I don’t know if singer Katie White and drummer Jules de Martino are romantically involved, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Pull up some of their live performances on YouTube and watch their energy together. They get into the groove like good lovers do: mindlessly, energetically, and like nobody else is watching.

Two people can make beautiful music together. That’s never a bad thing to point out on a date.

Research all things Ting Ting after the jump:

YOUTUBE LINKS:

Ting Tings – Great DJ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myJnsqGgxxM

Ting Tings – Shut Up and Let Me Go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r23cm7bL9E

Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UX0p7uAW2s

Ting Tings – Be the One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5BybSb6W4g