Portland post-punk act Rayon share ‘Running’ video from ‘Shopping B/W Running’
Rayon (Photo by Eric Sabatino)
Portland, Oregon post-punk/no-wave project Rayon has shared a new video for “Running” from the Rayon “Shopping B/W Running” single, released on May 20, 2025 via Little Cloud Records.
“‘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 new “Running” video was shot entirely on a rediscovered vintage Handycam, with the band driving a meticulously restored Citroën wagon that also appears in the earlier “Shopping” clip. The camera follows Rayon through everyday stops at homes, workplaces, bars and local shops, sometimes handed to friends and strangers. The edit leans into pause, rewind and fast-forward glitches, ending on slow, noisy freeway signs leading toward Seattle to underline the sense of movement and place.
“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 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.”
On the A-side, “Shopping” takes a tongue-in-cheek look at consumerism and travel, written, in Sabatino’s own words, by “someone who happens to travel and consume a bit”. The Super 8 video for “Shopping” was filmed during a near-burnout period and a re-energising trip south of the border, capturing grocery-store antics that reportedly led to the band being kicked out of several locations.
Rayon recorded “Shopping / Running” on 16-track ½” tape in a garage studio filled with old reel-to-reel machines, partially working tube amps and leaky British motorbikes, running many tracks through the same unstable tape echo used on “Running”. For this release Sabatino chose to co-mix with Larry Crane at Jackpot! Recording, with mastering by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering.
“Shopping B/W Running” was released as a two-track release pairing “Shopping” (4:06) and “Running” (5:25). The material was written and recorded by Eric Sabatino in the band’s garage studio. Eric Sabatino and Larry Crane handled mixing at Jackpot! Recording, with mastering by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering.
The 2-track single is available in two limited 7″ variants: 150 blue transparent copies and 150 black copies, alongside the digital edition.
About Rayon
Rayon is a no-wave and angular post-punk band based in Portland, Oregon, led by Detroit/Flint Michigan native Eric Sabatino. The project evolved from his earlier group Miss Rayon, which he started after playing in Portland bands such as Appendixes, Cat Hoch Band, Vexations and Bryson Cone.
The first Miss Rayon release was “Miss Rayon and Cloud Master” in 2017, followed by the debut full-length “Eclipse” in November 2018 on Portland label XRAY Records. During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, Sabatino issued a run of digital singles and live material, including “Part Time Punks Session 6/24/19”, before releasing the second full-length “Colour” in October 2022.
Under the Rayon name, the project continued this chronology with the two-track single “Shopping / Running”, listed on Bandcamp with a May 2025 release date and later associated with a November 10, 2025 Little Cloud Records release for the 7″ edition. Sabatino has described the project as “a life-long post punk and Sonic Youth fan trying to reconcile their love of The Kinks and 60’s British Pop.”
The current Rayon lineup brings together musicians from other Portland bands Sun Atoms, Yuvees, Pastilla and Martha Stax, with Sabatino joined by Anna Sabatino, Riley McLaughlin, Eric Rubalcava and Derek Longoria-Gomez.
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