Ring A Ding Ting

Our oldest daughter loves the Ting Tings, and the other day when we were in my car one of their songs came on.

"Gee, these folks sound familiar," I thought. In fact, they should an awful lot like the Tom Tom Club.

But unlike the joyous, never too serious Tom Tom Club, which was mostly a side venture for Talking Heads members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, the Ting Tings are calculated and, at times, a bit annoying. The Tom Tom Club's sunny, island "don't worry, mon" has been replaced by a "we're cooler than you" snideness.

They may be cooler than me (actually, almost certainly so). But they ain't much fun.