Why Choose

Shopping - Why Choose
Critic Score
Based on 14 reviews
2015 Ratings: #415 / 1021
User Score
Based on 43 ratings
Liked by 1 person
October 2, 2015 / Release Date
LP / Format
FatCat / Label
Post-Punk / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

80
AllMusic
Shopping make listeners lean in and pay close attention, proving along the way that they don't have to choose between tradition and growth to make a strong second album.
80
NME
The vibe of 'Why Choose' is much like 'Consumer Complaints', but Shopping pack so much invention and joy into such narrow confines, the results are perma-fresh.
80
DIY
Shopping want to be moody and want to be fun; they want to be taken completely seriously and want you to laugh with them. Though the album switches between states of feeling, it rarely drops beneath being anything less than brilliant.
80
Time Out London
You’ve heard the influences before, but with Shopping you really can taste the difference.
80
Loud and Quiet
Shopping’s ability to retrofit a hugely popular aesthetic into something defiantly 2015 is what makes them singular ... and nobody does it with quite as much conviction as this lot.
76
Pitchfork

The trio’s second album, Why Choose, is blissfully direct and free of added intellectual ballast.

70
SPIN

The stark Why Choose ... boasts speak-shout vocals, punk-funk bass lines, and clipped guitar riffs, all rendered with impressive precision and a retro-cool approach.

70
The Line of Best Fit
Though the band claim to just want to make music for people to dance to, (a feat they undoubtedly achieve here), there's a darker undercurrent that's belied by the record's pop sensibilities.
60
Drowned in Sound

For all its pep, it can lack heft, however.

xcomebackkid
80

The fun bounciness of Shopping evokes this really fun post-punk new wave sound with a clean UK guitar sound. The guitar and bass tone is what's to love most on Why Choose. The Dry lo-fi nature of the instruments gets blown out in all the right places. Like you are trying to practice in a basement as politely as possible on small amps. It creates this close, comfy, garage sound that fits the band so well. There is nothing to hide behind with the clean tone on these songs.

dustymoth
95

A perfect ESG update

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Track List

  1. Wind Up
  2. Take It Outside
  3. Straight Lines
  4. Time Wasted
  5. Say It Once
  6. No Show
  7. Why Wait
  8. Private Party
  9. Sinking Feeling
  10. I Have Decided
  11. Knocking
  12. 12345

Year End Lists

#34/Rough Trade
#45/Time Out London
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Added on: July 15, 2015