School me on Eric's Trip

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All I know is that the Microphones covered one of the their songs and they named themselves after a Sonic Youth song. Clue me in. Are they worth investigating? Where should one start? Are the members playing in other bands now?

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

They were a lo-fi outfit originally from Moncton, NB. Imagine Isn't Anything recorded under the lowest-fidelity imaginable. Their song structure was heavily indebted to SST-era Dinosaur Jr. and they had a good balance of male/female vocals.

After a slew of cassette and vinyl micro-releases SubPop signed them for a few LPs/singles.

They have some good songs, I think they're debut 2x7" on SubPop was pretty classic college indie-rock circa 1993. I have no idea if the other guys are still active but Julie Doiron is still making records (her record with the Wooden Stars is pretty sophisticated art-pop).

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:21 (twenty years ago)

I've got the Peter EP that came out on Sub Pop in the early 90s. It's good, but I could never imagine myself wanting to hear too much more. And they had a shitload of records out too. So maybe it's wrong to extrapolate to far from that small sample but, I think they took quite a rocking approach to the whole MBV-boy/girl-dreamy-fuzzy-guitar-noise-with-clattering-drums deal that was omnipresent back then. They sounded like they had a better grasp of melody than most too. Dunno what they're up to now apart from Julie Doiron who puts out solo stuff on Jagjagwar.

x-post

― NickB (NickB), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

I found one of their early cassette releases on Slsk and it was really good lo-fi noise pop. Not sure if their Sub Pop stuff is as good, and unfortunately I can't remember which tape it was as they released a few.

Definitely worth looking into though.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

According to their discography, Peter came out on MurderRecords pre-Sub Pop.

The release I recommended is called Songs About Chris.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:28 (twenty years ago)

Rick White, the guitarist/vocalist/ started a kind of psychedelic/stoner rock-ish band that went through a series of Elevator-related names, including Elevator to Hell, before settling on Elevator. That band has released a slew of albums in the past few years, including one earlier this summer.
White also teamed up with the Sadies and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo in the Unintended for what seems to be a one-off album.

― BanjoMania (Brilhante), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

White has also painted very nice album covers for the Sadies and Blue Rodeo.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

(I think then that Peter must have been licensed to the German arm of Sub Pop then, cos that's definitely the one I gots)

― NickB (NickB), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

They go back and forth a lot between sludgy noise-pop and quiet, fragile slivers of songs. The slivers are what absolutely slay me.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:38 (twenty years ago)

Is there a newer album than August?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago)

I have one of the lp's, but its a promo and at home so i can't tell you which. when i get into a nice lo-fi, noisey pop kick, it invariably comes out. of course theres a bit of sonic youth and the swirlies in there and fairly good songwriting, but nothing quite as endearing as microphones. jay's right about the slivery bits...

the records can probably be found in used and bargin bins, and entirely worth picking up at that price.

― b b, Thursday, 4 August 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

buy Love Tara... cuz it's awesome!!!

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Thursday, 4 August 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

When I hear PAJO, I hear a lot of eric's trip, particluarly in the vocal melodies and the way some of the vocals are quite breathless.

― hmmm (hmmm), Thursday, 4 August 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

a week or so ago, prior to moving, when I tried to sell my copy of eric's trip's "forever again," nobody would buy it. I don't think it still has the poster inside.

It was kinda a good record. Better than the Microphones, that's fer sure.

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)

i listened to love tara a bunch in high school

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:11 (twenty years ago)

I looked and the tape I liked was called Warm Girl. Really noisy guitars but melodic songs as well.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

rick and julie are playing together soon in moncton

― dogonwheels (dogonwheels), Thursday, 4 August 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

eric's trip were my absolute favourite band around the time of Songs About Chris/Love Tara. the only band i've ever sent a fan letter to. the second album wasn't a disappointment but i feel now that it lost a lot of what made me fall in love with them in the first place. Purple Blue is pretty weak and i never got into it. the live album is surprisingly strong.

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Thursday, 4 August 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

In the last song of the Tragically Hip's album "Trouble in the Henhouse" they namecheck "Love Tara" in the lyrics.

― caspar (caspar), Thursday, 4 August 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

Eric's Trip was a highlight of the Canadian indie goldrush around 93 to 95. Fun to watch live, prolific, and as mentioned above, each release had those quiet, moody slivers, couched in a web full of fuzzy, MBV/Dino Jr. rockers.

"Peter" and "Love Tara" are the highlights.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:26 (twenty years ago)

Let's see. Eric's Trip best encapsulates the environment of 1990's east coast Canada, apart from maybe Sloan. Peter, Love Tara, Forever Again and Purple Blue are phenomenal. They have the sound almost every bar band wishes they could. And they did it all on home recorded 8 track. Much like say the Weakerthans capture Winnipeg, Eric's Trip capture Moncton.
Best Intro I could think of is the split single they did with Sloan. Sloan cover Stove, Eric's Trip cover Laying Blame. The single for Belong bw/ Red haired Girl might be the best Canadian single ever released.

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Friday, 5 August 2005 03:34 (twenty years ago)

A couple of their earlier songs (*checks titles* "Hurt" and "Smother" apparently) appear to be permanently etched into my auditory cortex. But yeah, things appeared to be going very wrong by Purple Blue. Plus they did mumble quite a bit didn't they!

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Friday, 5 August 2005 04:22 (twenty years ago)

FOREVER AGAIN IS STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITE RECORDS, perfect blend and imho much better than Microphones, great songwriting etc etc etc.

― le planete sauvage, Friday, 5 August 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

the gordon st haunting ep is lovely as well, as is the float 45 (i assume both of these are on the long days ride cd?)

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Friday, 5 August 2005 04:40 (twenty years ago)

forgot about their existence...... used to like 'em a good bit in high school. 'love tara' was my favorite by them.

yeah, they do sorta sound like a better version of the microphones now that i think about it.

― jerkwarrior, Friday, 5 August 2005 22:28 (twenty years ago)

I was pretty interested in them two years ago when I listened to a lot of Silver Apples and Psychic TV, yet didn't know that they were electronic. For the longest time I would always think they were from British Columbia, and one time I mentioned Eric's Trip in regards to The Sonic Youth song, and this dude said "so you'r into the east coast canadian alt. rock scene" or something like that. and I said, "I thought they were from Vancouver" or something. Yet to this day I still have not heard them . . .

― Tokyo Ghost Stories (Tokyo Ghost Stories), Saturday, 6 August 2005 16:37 (twenty years ago)

jaymc OTM about the slivers of songs.

All I have is Love Tara, and while I enjoy it on the whole, the drummer
has that machine-gun style that you either love or hate. The kind
where on the loud, fast songs, every phrase ends with a ton of
snare drum 16th notes.

― Zach S, Sunday, 7 August 2005 04:50 (twenty years ago)

(I think then that Peter must have been licensed to the German arm of Sub Pop then, cos that's definitely the one I gots)

I think that's what happened, because I can remember seeing a vinyl version with Sub Pop's logo in the early 1990s at shows, whereas the CD/CS was all that Murder ever had listed.

the gordon st haunting ep is lovely as well, as is the float 45 (i assume both of these are on the long days ride cd?)

For some reason, Julie's vocals on the "Playing hide and seek..." verse of "Float" are removed on Long Days Ride (and no, Gordon Street isn't on the comp; it was limited to non-SP releases, except for live versions). I'd recommend that album as the starting point requested in the thread's lead-off questions, largely because it covers the whole arc of the bands' six year career, from the early lo-fi self-released cassettes, to 7" singles to live tracks. Also, for those that are interested, Rick White has reissued (on CD-R) versions of the first cassette and first two singles: http://www.elevator.ca/gb.htm

I don't really get the SY comparisons, apart from their name. They've always sounded more like Isn't Anything-era MBV playing Neil Young's Decade ("Sugar Mountain" and "Like A Hurricane" are much like the two sides of ET that you'd be exposed to, the quiet and the loud).

I think ET's best song was "Smoke" which appeared on The Road South 7" on Sonic Unyon.

― Vic Funk, Sunday, 7 August 2005 10:27 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...

Well guess whose getting back together?? No really, another reunion, this time in Sackville.

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

SACKVILLE

I've heard bits of Julie's upcoming album (not due until end of August), and it's really good. There's a dance number, almost in the vein of Feist, but with more teeth.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 15:47 (nineteen years ago)

Love Tara
Forever Again
Purple Blue

Great Albums

― christoff (christoff), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

They'll be no mocking of Sackville from Saskatchewan please and thank you.

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:06 (nineteen years ago)

Howzabout Lower Sackville?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

maybe its cuz im on dialup.. but i hate that sappy website!! seeing eric's trip reunite in 2001 totally killed it for me.. i shouldve left it alone but i didnt.. i dont know if anyone else got that feeling.. purple blue was a great record!! i always remember the day it came out having the choice of that or ministry 'filth pig' and buying the eric's trip record really sealed the rest of my high school years quite nicely.. alot of good memories there.. terribly nice people too, i probably interviewed that clan more than anyone else and they were always receptive and kind regardless of what kind of idiots i brough along..

― gwolfcow, Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:36 (nineteen years ago)

Lower Sackville is okay, as long as its the Nova Scotian Lower Sackville.

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

nine years pass...

STOVE!

― dynamicinterface, Wednesday, 21 October 2015 15:02 (ten years ago)

how do you feel about it?

― rip van wanko, Wednesday, 21 October 2015 15:08 (ten years ago)

i love it. i'm listening to love tara for the first time in ages and had forgotten all about that tune.

― dynamicinterface, Wednesday, 21 October 2015 15:34 (ten years ago)

love that lp

― rip van wanko, Wednesday, 21 October 2015 15:51 (ten years ago)

i love adjusting the balance dial on my stereo while listening to eric's trip. that hard-panned stereo sound! and the drums on love tara... that compression sound on stove...

― meaulnes, Wednesday, 21 October 2015 16:13 (ten years ago)

two years pass...

Purple Blue soundeds really good to me today. Through ears now to me it sounds like doom pop with all of the fuzz.

― earlnash, Monday, 28 May 2018 02:13 (seven years ago)

Yeah underrated. But Love Tara was my favorite album by anybody for a couple years

― rip van wanko, Monday, 28 May 2018 06:33 (seven years ago)

three weeks pass...

forever again & purple blue both re-issued on vinyl last week by subpop <3

― meaulnes, Wednesday, 20 June 2018 11:37 (seven years ago)

five years pass...

People always told me that when I got older I would miss all the punk records I sold, but the reality is that I just miss my Eric's Trip LPs. :(

― ian, Wednesday, 13 December 2023 15:22 (two years ago)

― Evan, Wednesday, 13 December 2023 15:24 (two years ago)

this band feels long overdue for the big deluxe box set treatment

― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 13 December 2023 16:00 (two years ago)

NO BIG BOX SETS :\

― ian, Wednesday, 13 December 2023 16:38 (two years ago)

keep the numero group the fuck away from my canadian homies

― ian, Wednesday, 13 December 2023 16:38 (two years ago)

I wouldn't buy a box set but I would buy a compilation of all the early stuff to see if it holds up.

Never forget:
https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=60&threadid=113973

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 14 December 2023 16:13 (two years ago)

kiss me on the head, steve

― ian, Thursday, 14 December 2023 16:39 (two years ago)

lol forgot that I started this thread

(Still haven’t spent enough time with Eric’s Trip)

― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 14 December 2023 16:41 (two years ago)

Haha Eric's Trip feels too lo-fi and light-hearted compared to the serious, pondering-dude 90s indie rock that Numero focuses its efforts on. Much of which I love, don't get me wrong. But slightly off brand I'd say.

― Evan, Thursday, 14 December 2023 16:43 (two years ago)

one year passes...

a friend of mine just sent me a pic of me in september 1993 wearing a very early Eric's Trip t-shirt <3

can't get enough of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojkkLT2qEEg

― imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Sunday, 3 August 2025 06:25 (seven months ago)

I started this damn thread and then never dug in, but I will this fall.

― Clever Message Board User Name (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 3 August 2025 11:30 (seven months ago)

Feel like digging out my CD copy of the Long Days Ride 'Till Tomorrow rarities set and bringing it to play at my retail job today: https://www.discogs.com/release/371319-Erics-Trip-Long-Days-Ride-Till-Tomorrow

("Kiss Me On The Head" is a personal alltimer, relating to its contents)

― Bitcoin Bajas (Craig D.), Sunday, 3 August 2025 12:09 (seven months ago)

i had a 7" of 'songs about chris' years ago before i lost all my records. it sounded electric. like you were right there in the room with them. they did that so well. mad love for this band. so intimate.

― maelin, Monday, 4 August 2025 00:03 (seven months ago)

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