A product of the same Eastern Canada indie rock community which also gave rise to the superb Jale and Sloan, the noise-pop quartet Eric’s Trip formed in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1990. The group, which took their name from a Sonic Youth song, brought together a number of longtime veterans of the Moncton scene: drummer Mark Gaudet first surfaced in the mid-1970s as a member of Purple Knight and later performed with the Whoremoans and No Explanation, while vocalist/guitarist Rick White and guitarist Chris Thompson debuted in 1984 as members of, respectively, Bloodstain and Dang. In 1989 White and Thompson teamed in the Forest, which recruited vocalist/bassist Julie Doiron-Claytor the following year; when Gaudet joined some months later, Eric’s Trip was born.
The band debuted with a self-titled 1990 cassette; with the floodgates duly opened, a massive amount of material followed, stretching across the 1991 tapes Caterpillars and Drowning, the 1992 EPs Warm Girl and Belong, and 1993’s Peter. After becoming the first Canadian artist signed to Sub Pop, Eric’s Trip issued the EP Songs About Chris, followed by Julie and the Porthole to Dimentia (recorded for the tiny Sappy label), before finally closing out 1993 with their full-length Sub Pop debut Love Tara. After 1994’s Gordon Street Haunting EP and the Forever Again LP, Doiron-Claytor’s pregnancy forced the group into a hiatus; following 1996’s Purple Blue, Eric’s Trip announced their breakup. White soon resurfaced in Elevator to Hell, while Doiron-Claytor continued performing under the name Broken Girl; Gaudet joined the reformed Purple Knight, and Thompson appeared in Moonsocket. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
