A few of my favorite regional bands on the comp V/A My Head Is Like A Radio Set, are UK Gold (Olympia), Collate (Portland), and Becky & The Politicians
(Portland). They often share bills with one another, and even briefly shared members. When I went up to Olympia to catch UK Gold and Collate in action, UK Gold’s Matt Murillo played double duty that night filling in as interim drummer for Collate. It was my first show after moving out here from the Midwest, and it was cool to see such great bands and what appeared to be a tight knit community whilst casually bumping into Lois Maffeo and Tobi Vail. My poor riot grrrl heart about exploded!
That brings us to UK Gold’s contribution to the comp, a cover of Lois Maffeo’s “Narcissus”, from her 1992 album, Butterfly Kiss. UK Gold turn the song into a bit of a dirge with bassist Matt Murillo trading off vocals with guitarist Forrest Peaker. It captures the tone and subtle violence fitting of the subject matter, being involved in an unhealthy relationship with a narcissist.
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Collate are a post punk outfit who were immediately my favorite Portland band, and really any of their myriad other bands that range from mutant disco danceteria fair, to hot n freaky squelchy synth punk. I hesitate to call any of them side projects because they are all so fully realized and intentional, none of them feeling the least bit uncooked. Collate, Conditioner Disco Group, Dress Forms, and Becky & The Politicians are all great bands, and they all have one person in common and that’s Jacyn Decay. Erika handles bass/vox in Collate. She’s an incredible visual artist, so I asked her to handle design for the comp. She also writes the Futures and Pasts column for Maximum Rocknroll and does the can’t-miss podcast of the same name.
Collate bash out a 13th Floor Elevators cover and Becky & The Politicians turn in a squelchy cover of The Remains “Time of Day”.
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