The Ting Tings: Super Critical review – catchy but superficial

After their difficult second album – reportedly torture to make, Welcome to Nowheresville wasn’t much fun to listen to either – the Ting Tings have made things a little easier for themselves on this follow-up. Perhaps too easy: Super Critical, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, pays overt homage to the likes of Prince, Nile Rogers and Stevie Wonder (on the title track, Do It Again and Green Poison, respectively). The Manchester-based duo can still write a catchy tune – a knack that fuelled their 2008 breakout That’s Not My Name – but these songs are all surface, with only the odd hook to snag us.