Everything Old Is New Again

I was delighted to find out yesterday that one of my favorite EPs from 30 years ago, long out of print, was available on Bandcamp. I loved Peter from Eric’s Trip, but even when it was current, it was hard to obtain. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I ripped my friend’s copy to burn on a CD, a practice I was totally against, but felt I had no other choice. Now the band’s Rick White is releasing his archive through the indie music service.

It turns out I’m not the only one with nostalgia for the fuzzed out lofi from these Canadians. The album My Anti-Aircraft Friend by LA outfit Julie earned an 8.1 score in Pitchfork’s review with nothing less than a full validation of the Eric’s Trip sound. Though the reviewer, Matthew Schnipper, writes quite a bit about Sonic Youth, those of us who were around in the 90s know of more immediate reference points.¹

Compare the second song from My Anti-Aircraft Friend. “Tenebrist” with the Eric’s Trip song “Sunlight” from their debut album Love Tara. The post-classic nasal drip vocals with guitar effects ripped from grunge and lurching dynamics that could put you in a neck brace all match here.

It’s gratifying to see the nostalgia for 90s inspired sounds in the same way that we saw a reverence for 80s music a little over a decade ago.

1. To be fair, Eric’s Trip was named after the Sonic Youth song from Daydream Nation. ↩︎