"In 2016, Portland, Oregon is famous for a great many things. But 20 and 30 years ago, that list was much shorter. But one entry that has remained steadfast towards the top this entire time, are Portland Punk legends and pioneers, Poison Idea.
Returning to Drinking From Puddles and KBOO for the first time since after the 2006 passing of Guitar God, Tom "Pig Champion" Roberts (which garnered a full-page obituary in the New York Times: (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/09/arts/music/09sann.html?_r=0), Poison idea has remained true to it's original punk ethos, spearheaded by founding member and mouthpiece Jerry A., while continuing to tour the world appeasing their old fans, and creating new generations of punk hordes.
Over the years PI has been cited as an influence by artists as major as Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, as well as platinum Metallers Pantera, who covered their song "The Badge" for the soundtrack to the Brandon Lee starred motion picture, "The Crow".
Recently Poison Idea has welcomed back to the fold their late 1980's guitar crusher Eric "Vegetable" Olson (ex of Mayhem), and their latest 2015 Southern Lord Records release "Confuse and Conquer" manages to match the power of classic PI releases without just retreading old ground.
Of all the current entries on the "Portland is famous for" list, scant few (if any) will have the staying power, or the lasting cultural impact of Portland's all-time Kings Of Punk, Poison Idea!
- KBOO