Shopping

The trio Shopping draws from ESG, the Au Pairs, and Delta 5 as well as a pointed skepticism toward capitalism. Its lineup consists of guitarist and vocalist Rachel Aggs, bassist Billy Easter, and drummer Andrew Milk. From the start, the group paired cultural commentary with sharp humor and grooves that invited dancing, sometimes bordering on exuberant. Later releases saw the members refine their approach to both lyrics and arrangements, yielding The Official Body in 2018 with heightened sonic definition and then All or Nothing in 2020 with tighter execution and finish.

Formed in 2012, Shopping operated as a London queer punk supergroup. Aggs, Easter, and Milk had already collaborated in Covergirl, while Aggs also fronts Trash Kit and Sacred Paws and Easter previously played in Wetdog. Early singles like “In Other Words” and a European tour the following year helped tighten the band’s jagged, forward-moving sound. Consumer Complaints, the debut album, appeared late in 2013 on the MÏLK label run by Milk and Easter; its initial pressing sold out quickly before FatCat Records handled a reissue, with a U.S. release following in 2015. Why Choose, an even more focused second album, surfaced later that year, prompting the group’s first tour of the United States.

After Why Choose, the local environment that had nurtured the band shifted: Power Lunches, their rehearsal space, closed, and Milk relocated to Glasgow. Shopping adjusted by tracking their third album at Edwyn Collins’s Clashnarrow studio in the Scottish Highlands. The Official Body, containing some of the band’s most upbeat material, reached listeners in early 2018. When work began on the fourth album, Aggs and Milk were both based in Glasgow while Easter divided time primarily between Los Angeles and elsewhere; nevertheless the members gathered again in London, where producer Davey Warsop helped them complete All or Nothing inside ten days. Drawing on pop, disco, and Chicago house, the record appeared in February 2020.