"Portland's Collate play music that recalls late ’70s/early ’80s minimalist post-punk, and loops through the styles and genres influenced by that music a million times until you end up with a sound that is evocative of the past but also modern—kind of like when you photocopy and re-photocopy something until it distorts and becomes something new and weird. The lyrics are sometimes blatantly political but always wry and clever. There are still plenty of the danceable, catchy bass-forward kind of songs you heard on their previous recordings, but in songs like "Stocks," there's a hint of more straightforward punk and it starts to kinda ROCK. Just a bit. But in the end, Collate always handles themselves with cool restraint, even when frustration, anger, and joy are palpably bubbling under the surface." (Rachel Courtney)Our take: We love Portland’s Collate here at Sorry State—we’ve named two of their previous releases (2018’s Liminal Concerns and 2019’s Communication) Record of the Week—and with Generative Systems, they score the rare Sorry State hat trick. Collate’s music is grounded in the original post-punk sound, but unlike so many groups infatuated with this era, they sound vital, contemporary, and punk as fuck. Collate is a 3-piece and they do that Gang of Four thing where the bass holds down the melody while the guitar functions as more of a rhythm instrument. While the guitarist is fond of Andy Gill-style stabbing, the bass and drums are lithe and rubbery, reminding me of ESG’s ability to lock into a simple, danceable groove. Slick production can pull the life out of this style, but Collate recorded Generative Systems on a cassette 8-track and it has the gritty, lo-fi charm of records like the Fall’s Dragnet. And as with the Fall, there’s an air of menace to Collate’s music that runs counter to how straightforward and danceable it is. The lyrics are as spare as the music, working with Discharge-level word counts and often employing jargon in this threateningly fuzzy way, which I find poignant… as a former academic, I’m sensitive to the ways rhetoric is weaponized in order to reinforce or upset social pecking orders. While the analog recording and debts to 70s post-punk mean Generative Systems doesn’t exactly sound contemporary, it also doesn’t sound retro. I even hear hints of Fugazi in places (particularly on the songs Collate’s guitarist Jason sings)… I suppose Fugazi took a lot from Gang of Four themselves, but I think that comparison comes to mind because of the powerful ensemble playing and the music’s vitality. Musically powerful, lyrically astute, and just fucking cool… Generative Systems is another essential record from this brilliant band.
