Eric's Trip - Forever Again / Purple Blue
(Sub Pop)

Back in print on vinyl for the first time since their mid 90’s release are the last 2 LPs from New Brunswick, Canada quartet Eric’s Trip. Rick White and Christopher Thompson, initially of The Forest, met up with Julie Doiron and Ed Vaughan in 1990. Their “lo-fi-fuzz-sludge-punk” mish-mash would be explored across numerous self-released cassettes and 7”s, and then 3 LPs for the Pacific NW super-indie Sub Pop as the label suffered an identity crisis following that thing called “grunge.” 
Forever Again and Purple Blue still sound vital today. Their exploration of melodic indie rock nicely touches on the wayward slack methodology of Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, the hooks of the Pixies and the Pastels and the tape experimentations of early Sebadoh. Their namesake is certainly a Sonic Youth reference (just peruse Daydream Nation’s tracklist for Lee Ranaldo’s caterwauling epic) and their influence is well-weaved into their songs specifically “Introduction” on 1996’s Purple Blue. Apparently “View Master” (from 1994’s Forever Again), was a minor hit in indie circles and it’s easy to see why. Rick White and Julie Doiron’s vocals are the perfect fit to the scuzzy pop melody. Both records contain blink-and-you-miss-it pop touchstones but they’re regularly masked in surging fuzz and brisk rhythms.
Whether you’ve forgotten about this great Canadian band or you never knew ‘em, now’s the time to take the trip. Now available again from Sub Pop in flashy colored wax. (Dom)
Check out a track here and this classic mid 90's slacker video here.