“New York City's Lower East Side of Manhattan and the borough of Queens share a unique historical place in the annals of punk rock's evolution ever since The Ramones burst on the scene in the mid 1970's. That same gritty, blue collar toughness can be found in today's like-minded and similarly situated rockers GIFTSHOP. Their latest EP “Big In Astoria” (set for a February 16th digital release) delivers five searing tracks of updated power-punk with pop styling that would make Joey, Johnny, DeeDee and Tommy proud” - Dave Cromwell
“GIFTSHOP - The missing link between Blondie and The Distillers.” - delarue
“If you miss the glory days of CBGB punk rock mixed with some pop punk elements, then GIFTSHOP will definitely fill that void with “Biginastoria”. Madness To Creation gives this a 9 out of 10 stars, only because we wish it were longer! ”
“If I play it loud enough and close my eyes, I can imagine I was at the gig. Maybe one day New York…” - Neil Hodge
“Truly cyclical, the hypnotic looping of GIFTSHOP's “We Want You” puts the listener into a delirious trance.”
“Punk/Underground Compilation: Let's Make Some Noise Together - Vol 1 NYC 2019 Standout band for me though is GIFTSHOP and the brace of tracks offered from them. Stacked opens the album with choppy guitars prefacing the opening line: “All I know is that I’m better than you…” I don’t disagree, the chips are stacked in GIFTSHOP's favour. Things I Feel is the other GIFTSHOP offering here, a frantic bass opens the 90 seconds of frenzied playing and machine gun vocals. Phew. The even better news is that they have an imminent EP due to drop.” - Neil Hodge
““Back to Tarbeach and GIFTSHOP who released my single of the year, a double A sided blue vinyl single featuring two different but equally stunning tracks. The in your face 2 fingers romp that is “Despicable” and the more restrained almost 50’s rockabilly crooner “Doncha Know”.”” - Neil Hodge
““As you listen to the song, the melody and the style of the vocal performance have a fairly nostalgic feel to them. However, everything else about the song is far from vintage. There’s a colourful freshness to the experience that makes it really stand out. You’re almost certain to recognise this again after hearing it just once, and this would be from a distance, even just quietly in the background. It’s a brilliant song and it grows on you more and more as it moves along.”” - Rebecca Cullen
““Another band recently finding their way onto the CromwellWrites radar are the punky pop female fronted quintet Giftshop. Accurately describing their style as “CBGB's style punk mixed with 21st century pop hooks,” they've recently released their third EP “Blue Monster.” It's like The Cramps, The Waitresses and Blondie all rolled into one.”” - Dave Cromwell