The evening felt magical. A clear starry sky with a cool breeze wallpapered the ambience. In the back of the grungy club on a small delicate stage stood Shopping. They were booked as the second of three acts for the evening.Traveling from Pittsburgh for two New York City dates and one at Uncle Joe’s in Jersey City (Aug. 23), Shopping’s Alex Braden played keyboards during the first few songs, which were not on their phenomenal demo Civil War Generals. His Elvis Costello glasses and lanky body resembled a computer nerd instead of a rocker. But his backup and lead vocals impressed everyone.
On Generals, Shopping is tremendous. They capture the void GenNext NuMetal can’t fill. It’s screamo with plenty of raw indie garage. Shopping sounds like a faster punk version of early ’90s alt.
After finishing their new songs, which included a fast jam of a ballad titled "Damn Motherf____," Nicholas Falwell approached the mic and strummed the chords to "Still Born Corpse." Arguably the strongest track on Generals, Falwell played lead and sang every lyric like a kid running away from home with nothing to lose. His voice penetrated the walls and everyone present witnessed a special moment in new indie rock.
Perhaps it was a lucky night for Falwell and Shopping. The adrenalin was running high for their first Garden State gig ever. Scott Carney’s hands pounded harder on the drums, and Braden’s control of tempo was accidentally perfect. But maybe, just maybe, we all witnessed the beginnings of a band getting ready to influence a chunk of a generation searching for real quality meaningful nonsense. Shopping can conquer audiences if they maintain their anti-fame aura.
For a second I wondered if they way I felt watching Shopping was how Tony Wilson felt when he saw the Sex Pistols for the first time. On "Dare To Believe," they continued with the poignant vibe and cemented everyone’s feelings. Just for one night, we had true alt indie all to ourselves.
"It felt great, euphoric tonight," Falwell said, after the show. "It feels more worthwhile to not worry about being a band."
For information on Shopping visit http://shopping.allhell.com or call (412) 621-5322. q