Music Review: Jeffrey Dallet Band – ‘Abnormal Oddities’ EP Is Potent Country Rock

The Jeffrey Dallet Band recently dropped their debut EP, Abnormal Oddities. The title of the EP is a reference to the universal sensation of feeling out of place and atypical when compared to others.

“I think the reason I called the album Abnormal Oddities is that feeling of being an odd ball among the odd balls,” Dallet says. “Everyone likes to say, ‘Oh, I’m so weird,’ but yeah so what, everyone is weird. When you’re an outcast, or an actual odd ball, or the subject of a certain amount of rejection, it’s a very isolated lonely feeling, and I want to connect with people who actually feel that way.”

Based in Denver, the band is made up of Dallet (guitar, vocals), Caroline Browning (bass), Brian Long (guitar), and Brian Bodley (drums). The Jeffrey Dallet Band’s sound embraces folk, folk rock, and country rock, as well as filaments of indie rock.

Abnormal Oddities comprises eight tracks. “Blind Love in Vain” travels a potent country rock tune with a brisk rhythm generated by the plunking bass and crisp drums. Spangly guitars shimmer with glittering energy and sparkling colors. Dallet’s voice, a reedy-lite tenor, carries just the right amount of twang to escort the compelling thrust of the music.

“Gypsy Jewel” is a bluesy-flavored alt country tune, with a melancholy fiddle adding wistful colors. The quaver of the harmonic infuses the music with lonely hues, as Dallet’s haunting tones speak of his yearning for the woman of his dreams. A trilling organ adds pigmented touches of desire.

“Dear Dayton, OH” is a tribute to what the city once was. Burnished with lyrics like “rust in peace” and “linger do the ghosts of Frigidaire,” the tune takes a swipe at America’s changing landscape. The last track, “Odd Ball Blues,” starts off like a Johnny Cash ballad and then revs up to an electrifying indie rock number with tinges of country loitering nearby. The guitars pump out beau coup oomph with almost punk-like fury. A blistering, dirty guitar solo ignites the middle of the song with flaming intensity.

Abnormal Oddities conveys first-rate country rock ranging from tender and romantic to all-out barn burners. The Jeffrey Dallet Band can play soft, beautiful songs, as well as ramp it up to high-octane levels.

Follow the Jeffrey Dallet Band on jeffreydallet.com, Facebook, and Twitter.