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We Started Nothing
2008 studio album by The Ting Tings
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic64/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The A.V. ClubB−
Entertainment WeeklyB+
The Guardian
Mojo
NME6/10
Pitchfork3.8/10
Q
Rolling Stone
The Times

We Started Nothing is the debut studio album by English indie pop duo the Ting Tings, released on 16 May 2008 by Columbia Records. The US edition has a different cover image in several background colours. The album was also released in the United Kingdom on red vinyl limited to 2,000 copies. The US vinyl version is a standard black vinyl pressing. As of November 2014, We Started Nothing had sold 639,876 copies in the United Kingdom.

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Background

According to vocalist and guitarist of the Ting Tings, Katie White:

The way we write changes with each song. "Keep Your Head" started with Jules [De Martino] on the drums, "We Walk" started with me on piano, "Shut Up and Let Me Go" started with Jules on bass, "That's Not My Name" was me ranting about my frustrations with the record industry. "Great DJ" was me playing a D chord on the guitar for hours, because that's all I could play. And then I put my finger on the wrong string, and got what I discovered was an augmented chord. And that was the riff! The lyrics described the life we were living at the time. It was about getting lost in hedonism, about forgetting that you had bailiffs knocking at your door and just surrendering to the joys of the music in a nightclub for several hours—the boys, the girls, the strings, the drums.13

Singles

A double A-side single consisting of "That's Not My Name" and "Great DJ" was released as the first single from the album on 28 May 2007 through the independent label Switchflicker Records. The album's second single, "Fruit Machine", was released as a limited 500-copy run, only available for the fans at the duo's concerts. Four covers were made: one for Salford, one for Berlin, one for London and one for New York. The third single, a reissue of "Great DJ", was released on 3 March 2008. The song didn't chart until the re-release of "That's Not My Name", reaching number 33 on the UK singles chart.

The fourth single released from the album was the re-release of "That's Not My Name". It is so far the duo's most successful on the UK singles chart, reaching the top spot for one week. The single's popularity caused "Great DJ" to finally chart (two months after its release), and also caused "Shut Up and Let Me Go" to chart early (two months before its release). The song became the UK's 22nd best-selling single of 2008, selling 300,000 copies. In the United States, "That's Not My Name" reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Shut Up and Let Me Go" served as the fifth single from the album. Due to the popularity of "That's Not My Name", it entered the top 75 two months before its release, based on downloads. The song was officially released on 21 July 2008. It is the duo's second highest-peaking single in the UK, charting at number six, while reaching number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Be the One" was released on 13 October 2008 as the sixth single from the album, peaking at number 28 on the UK chart. The re-release of "Fruit Machine" was originally planned to be released on 9 February 2009 as the album's seventh single, but was cancelled a week before the release. "We Walk" was ultimately released as the seventh and final single on 23 February 2009, reaching number 58 in the UK. It was the band's first single not to have a 7-inch vinyl release, instead coming out on CD and 12-inch vinyl only.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jules De Martino and Katie White

No.TitleLength
1."Great DJ"3:23
2."That's Not My Name"5:11
3."Fruit Machine"2:54
4."Traffic Light"2:59
5."Shut Up and Let Me Go"2:52
6."Keep Your Head"3:23
7."Be the One"2:58
8."We Walk"4:04
9."Impacilla Carpisung"3:41
10."We Started Nothing"6:22
Digital edition bonus tracks14
No.TitleLength
11."Be the One" (acoustic version)3:16
12."Shut Up and Let Me Go" (acoustic version)2:46
13."Great DJ" (acoustic version)3:33
14."That's Not My Name" (acoustic version)4:26
Japanese edition bonus tracks15
No.TitleLength
11."Great DJ" (acoustic version)3:33
12."Shut Up and Let Me Go" (acoustic version)2:46
13."Great DJ" (7th Heaven Radio Remix)3:31
14."That's Not My Name" (Soul Seekerz Radio Mix)3:23
15."That's Not My Name" (Taku Takahashi Mix)5:14
Deluxe edition bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Great DJ" (music video)3:21
2."That's Not My Name" (music video)3:44
3."Shut Up and Let Me Go" (music video)2:55
4."Be the One" (music video)2:53
5."Making of Shut Up and Let Me Go"4:07
6."Making of Be the One"4:30
7."Salford/Berlin/London/New York Documentary"3:01
8."Be the One" (acoustic version; audio)3:14
9."Shut Up and Let Me Go" (acoustic version; audio)2:46
10."Great DJ" (acoustic version; audio)3:34
11."That's Not My Name" (acoustic version; audio)4:26

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of We Started Nothing.16

  • Jules De Martino – production
  • Dave Sardy – mixing
  • Greg Gordon – mix engineering
  • Matt Irwin – band photography
  • Denis Kleiman – band photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2008–2009)Peakposition
Australian Albums (ARIA)1722
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)1857
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)1938
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)2054
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)2120
European Albums (Billboard)225
French Albums (SNEP)2321
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)2459
Irish Albums (IRMA)253
Japanese Albums (Oricon)2650
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)2716
Scottish Albums (OCC)282
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)2928
UK Albums (OCC)301
US Billboard 2003178
US Independent Albums (Billboard)328
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)3321
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)3440

Year-end charts

Chart (2008)Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)3576
European Albums (Billboard)3658
French Albums (SNEP)37137
UK Albums (OCC)3823
US Independent Albums (Billboard)3926
Chart (2009)Position
French Albums (SNEP)40140
UK Albums (OCC)4161

Certifications

Certifications for We Started Nothing
RegionCertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)42Gold35,000^
France (SNEP)43Gold75,000*
Ireland (IRMA)44Platinum15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)452× Platinum639,87646

* Sales figures based on certification alone.^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateEditionLabelRef.
Ireland16 May 2008StandardColumbia47
United Kingdom19 May 200848
Australia23 May 2008Sony49
Germany30 May 200850
United States3 June 200851
France16 June 2008Sony52
United Kingdom24 November 2008DeluxeColumbia53
Japan21 January 2009
  • Standard
  • deluxe
Sony5455
France8 June 2009Deluxe56

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