I was never a big Eric’s Trip fan back in the day, my ears not being accustomed or attuned to their noisy, lo-fi aesthetic at the time (this was some 12 years ago), so I didn’t really pay much heed when they split up or to any of of Rick White’s Elevator projects or Julie Doiron’s solo career afterwards. I do, however, appreciate that they were and remain one of the most beloved Canadian indie bands of the last decade and a half so the fact that this record reunites the entire original Eric’s Trip lineup is, to many, a big deal.

I don’t know if this is thanks to playing with fellow Maritimers Shotgun & Jaybird recently or getting back together with her old Eric’s Trip compatriots, but it sounds really good on her. Doiron’s songs sound refreshingly bright-eyed and energized, retaining her characteristic delicate, confessional folkiness but bolstering it with a sturdy band, fuller arrangements and a healthy amount of Young-ian electrified guitar skronk. Many of Doiron’s fans are calling this her best album yet, and seeing as how this is the really the first of her records that I’ve not only enjoyed listening to but actually seek to revisit, I’m inclined to agree. Woke Myself Up is out on Tuesday in Canada on Endearing records and next week in the US on Jagjaguwar.

MP3: Julie Doiron – “No More”
Video: Julie Doiron – “Me And My Friend” (MOV)
Video: Julie Doiron – “No More” (youTube)
MySpace: Julie Doiron

I saw Vancouver’s Ox open for The Sadies some three and a half years ago and apparently I found them decent if a bit homogenous-sounding. Having now had the chance to sit down with their second full-length, it seems they’ve still no great desire to stray from their musical comfort zone, but it comes across more as consistency than monotony. There’s a running theme of America, wasted youth, car culture and the mythologies of the road that tie them together, all filtered through Mark Browning’s raspy drawl and the band’s Scud Mountain Boy pacing and Whiskeytown-ish delivery. Though it tries a bit too hard to rustic authenticity at points and as a result comes off insincere, American Lo-Fi has a laid back, casualness about it that’s inviting and probably just the thing for those with an itch for the halcyon days of alt.country.

MP3: Ox – “Miss Idaho”
MP3: Ox – “Surrender” (Cheap Trick cover)
MP3: Ox – “Sugar Cane”
MP3: Ox – “747”
MySpace: Ox