Ming Ming and the Ching Chings – Not in Anyone’s Gang!

If Glasgow’s Ming Ming and the Ching Chings ultimately fail to receive the attention they deserve, it may well be because The Ting Tings “made it” in the business first. Second EP Not in Anyone’s Gang! certainly suggests that they could be more than the archetypal noise-punk band that they initially appear to be; the irrepressible vigour spread across the five tracks is interspersed with moments of real musicality – most notably an inspired excursion into afrobeat amid the otherwise Wombat-like Punch in the Face. Elsewhere, the influence of some of the artier exponents of punk tradition is quite clear, with the intro to eight-minute closer Straighten Up bearing a striking resemblance to Psycho Killer. Despite the name, there is hope. [Mark Holland]