Album Review: Thomas Stajcer, Midwestern States

Spend five minutes listening to Thomas Stajcer’s rollicking Midwestern States or watching the kooky video for “Who Will Listen to Country Music When Trucks Drive Themselves” (a disquieting thought) and it’s abundantly clear our man doesn’t take himself too seriously. Which is not to say the Nova Scotia songwriter doesn’t approach his music seriously. Just that he’s definitely the guy you most hope bellies up to the bar beside you in a weary moment. Dude’s got humour and breadth. 

Is that an agnostic choir testifying in the final third of the elegiac powerhouse “Spinning Dimes?” What an extraordinary counterpoint to the chugging, toe-tapping corker “If I Had One Bottle More” and the slyly cheeky “One of Two Ways,” in which our protagonist and his paramour gamely face mortality to the weeping wail of steel. 

Indeed, there’s a veritable patchwork quilt of emotions and sonics on Midwestern States which makes it very hard to pin down but very easy to enjoy. There’s the soothing hum of organ coursing through the blindingly vivid Americana-styled title track, while the hushed, acoustic “Lord I’ve Tried” finds Stajcer viewing life through a brooding lens. 

“Butterfly Blues” elevates Stajcer’s hooting and hollering to yodel form while his ace band offers its best impression of a combustion engine. In the set’s (arguably) best track, “Lover Beware,” Stajcer and duet partner Laura Merrimen trade stern throwdowns while what sounds like a spaghetti western soundtrack lights up the night sky. Honestly, I’ve seen kaleidoscopes with fewer gradations than Midwestern States.

Midwestern States was released September 10, 2021.
Listen to it here.