Ox

The second effort from Vancouver’s favourite alt-country minimalists Ox, the somewhat incongruously titled American Lo Fi, is the follow-up to 2003’s Canadian college chart-topping Dust Bowl Revival. Featuring guest appearances by Jesse Zubot, Kevin Kane (Grapes of Wrath) and Trish Klein (Po’ Girl) among others, ALF is an appropriately scrappy affair, mixing early Wilco-style roots rockers (album opener "Miss Idaho”) with more traditional country fare (particularly on the wry "Country Music Promoter” and the sweet boy-girl duet "Sugar Cane”). "Civilization,” meanwhile, is a fine folk rock sing-along, while "1913” finds the band using their sparse, reverb-heavy sound to channel Dylan circa Freewheelin’. In fact, only the downbeat, midtempo take on Cheap Trick’s "Surrender” (I now demand a moratorium on ironic, semi-reverent covers) and the cloying "Marta’s Song,” which features guest Marta Jaciubek on giggling lead vocals, bring down what is otherwise an admirable sophomore effort.