Post-punk is an expansive genre, one that is fully explored by London trio Shopping on their new album Consumer Complaint. The record made its debut in the UK last year, and will finally enjoy a US release on May 26 via FatCat Records. The album is a restless composition of Billy Easter’s punchy, shaking basslines and barebones jabs of Rachel Aggs’ minimally effected, twangy guitar. The songs are driven by Andrew Milk’s thumping, unwavering drum kit, while Aggs’ haunting vocal tones hover overhead and kick around slightly ominous and dark jives. The songs waver between the grimly sardonic, as on opener “Any Answers,” and closer “Theme,” and unpredictably energetic, as on “Santa Monica Place” and the ending of “Get Going.” Whether instrumentally coming through as light or dark, Aggs’ hearty voice and simplistic, repetitive lyrics instill a certain fun feeling of mistrust in modern consumerism.
