Aural Aggravation

Portland alt-rock / post-punk outfit Rayon present their latest single ‘Running, a propulsive exploration of the anxiety that comes with watching loved ones struggle with cycles of addiction that they can’t shake – and the sound of a tape echo that’s about to stop working. Intentionally preserving the noise of pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding to heighten the song’s frantic pace, its sound can be considered a study in tension and tape, the video conveying a sense of lo-fi capers involving a Citroen Wagon.

Found on the flip side of the single ‘Shopping / Running’ (also available on 7” vinyl via Little Cloud Records), ‘Running’ is perhaps even more stunning than the whacky A-side ‘Shopping’, a tongue-in-cheek ode to consumerism and travel, written by someone who happens to travel and consume a bit.

Founded by long-time North Portland resident and Detroit-area native Eric Sabatino, Rayon now also involves members of other notable Portland bands – Sun Atoms, Yuvees, Pastilla and Martha Stax – namely Anna Sabatino, Riley McLaughlin, Eric Rubalcava and Derek Longoria-Gomez.

‘Running’ is based on a relentless bass and drum groove that lived in Sabatino’s head for months before finally taking shape in the studio. To capture the song’s unsettled emotional landscape, the band leaned into the mechanical unpredictability of a dying Dynacord tape echo. By funneling guitars and vocals through the aging machine, they achieved a haunting, warped soundscape where the pitch and speed constantly bend and shift. Feeling as though it is physically straining under its own weight, this song mirrors the very themes of instability it describes.

“’Running’ was built around a bass and drum groove I was kicking around in my head for months. The guitars and vocals are the sound of a tape echo called ‘dynacord’ that’s barely working, bending and moving the speed and pitch of everything we run through it. Those parts wouldn’t have come out like that if I wasn’t trying to write a guitar part while plugged into that machine.” says Eric Sabatino.

The video for ‘Running’ offers a gritty, nostalgic look at the band’s world, captured entirely on a vintage Handycam, following the band in their meticulously restored Citroen wagon. Embracing the track’s jerky energy, their journey concludes with a grainy, evocative sequence of freeway signs leading into Seattle—a slow-burn outro that grounds the video’s high-energy antics in a sense of place and movement.

“The video was shot on an old handycam camcorder we found in the back of a closet. The battery miraculously held a charge. It came with a tape of someone’s school play, which we taped over (sorry to whoever’s family that was). It features the Citroen wagon from the ‘Shopping’ video. I worked on that car for months. So glad it didn’t break down during these two long video shoots,” says Eric Sabatino.

“We drove around all day picking everyone up at their home, work, local bar, favorite little shop, and went to band practice. We filmed the antics and capers along the way. Sometimes we let friends and strangers hold the camera and film us. I transferred and edited it over 2 late nights, trying to capture as much pause, rewind, and fast-forward noise as I could, timing the cuts to capture the jerky energy of the song. I love the outro and the slow noisy shots of the freeway signs leading to Seattle.”

AA