The Freelancer's Blues in Bloomington, MN

Practically every piece on
Dougie Poole
in some way points to the eccentricity of his work and his unlikely alliance to country music, with the word "weird" popping up as often as not. And in a very real way, the consensus is right --
's music IS pretty weird, with its wobbly sounding keyboards attempting to mimic the sound of the pedal steel guitar, and the clanky-sounding rhythm programs, along with his sorta-funny, sorta-not lyrics about lost love, the trials of ordinary life, and recreational drugs. That said, if
Poole
feels a kindred spirit with classic country music, he comes by it honestly.
's songs demonstrate a very real compassion and understanding for the ordinary workaday people who populate country music and its audience, and while there are some truly bent angles in his work, he doesn't look down on his characters. Sometimes real life can be kind of weird, and that's at the heart of 2020's
The Freelancer's Blues
,
's second album. On first glance, "Vaping on the Job" seems like a tribute to getting high on company time; look closer, and it's a world-weary glimpse into the lives of working stiffs just trying to get through another day. "Buddhist for a Couple of Days" is a funny premise for a tune, yet there's plenty of pain in the lyrics as some guy looks for spiritual succor in the wake of heartbreak. And "To Not Have a Brain," as damaged as it may sound, hits home as one man's wish for the weight of the world to simply leave him alone for a while. Though he may be weird, as a songwriter
is the real deal; he takes the formal structures of classic country and deliberately bends them into strange new shapes, while leaving the heart, soul, and passion intact, and the melodies strike a weepy bullseye throughout.
is not a hipster playing country music tropes for a mean-spirited laugh; he's filtering twangy home truths through his own psychedelic mindset, and at its best
is an acid-fried wonder, one part
Peter Grudzien
, two parts
Porter Wagoner
, and served in a chilled gas-station novelty glass from the '70s. Enjoy! ~ Mark Deming