Shopping

Drawing inspiration from ESG, the Au Pairs, Delta 5, and a healthy distrust of capitalism, Shopping is guitarist/vocalist Rachel Aggs, bassist Billy Easter, and drummer Andrew Milk. Starting with their 2012 debut Consumer Complaints, the band's cultural critique came with heroic doses of wit and danceable, often joyous grooves. On their later albums, Shopping sharpened their songwriting and sound, bringing their music into vibrant clarity on 2018's The Official Body and adding precision and polish to 2020's All or Nothing. When Shopping formed in 2012, they were something of a London queer punk supergroup: Aggs, Easter, and Milk had previously played together in Covergirl, and their other projects include Aggs' Trash Kit and Sacred Paws and Easter's Wetdog. They refined their prickly, propulsive style on singles such as "In Other Words" and during their 2013 European tour. Late that year, the band released its debut album, Consumer Complaints, on Milk and Easter's MÏLK label. The first pressing of Consumer Complaints soon sold out, and it was later reissued by FatCat Records. The album was released in the U.S. in 2015. Shopping's even more sharply honed second full-length Why Choose appeared later that year, and the band supported it with their first U.S. tour. Following that album's release, the scene that spawned Shopping changed. The band's rehearsal space, Power Lunches, shut down and Milk moved to Glasgow. Shopping adapted, recording their third album with Edwyn Collins at his Clashnarrow studio in the Scottish Highlands. Featuring some of the band's most celebratory music, The Official Body arrived in early 2018. By the time Shopping was ready to record their fourth album, both Aggs and Milk lived in Glasgow, while Easter spent most of her time in Los Angeles. However, the band reconvened in London with producer Davey Warsop to make All or Nothing in 10 days. Informed by pop, disco, and Chicago house, the album came out in February 2020.
© Heather Phares /TiVo