Dylan Marlowe’s New Band, 80 Acres, is Combining Early 2000’s Rock with the New Nashville Sound

Solo artist, Dylan Marlowe, has recently dropped a new EP full of five new songs with his new band, 80 Acres. The self-titled EP is both similar to and unlike Marlowe’s previous work in various ways. It seems to showcase more of Marlowe’s vast number of unique influences while also maintaining the same structure and tone of his previous work.

Photo Courtesy of 80 Acres

The band is comprised of Dylan Marlowe on vocals, with his touring bandmates taking on the other instruments: Christian Strahley on drums, Ethan Leak and David Medlin on guitar, and John Frisch on bass.

The EP starts with “Wait at the Gates,” which sounds almost like if the 2004 Tim McGraw fronted Creed in 2001. The riff is very reminiscent of an early-2000s alt-rock sound, yet we can’t help but find ourselves walking down the less-neon side of Broadway. The next track, “Least You Could Let Me Do,” dives deeper into the melancholy side of Marlowe’s writing and is reminiscent of Jon Pardi’s “Last Lonely Night,” which is Marlowe’s first number-one hit as a songwriter.

Photo Courtesy of 80 Acres

“Roses” is the third track on the EP and starts more stripped back with an ambiance of reverb before an electric guitar and drums fill that void. This song is the most reminiscent of modern country artists like Eric Church. My personal favorite, “Mess We Made,” comes next with a very clear Blink-182 influence colliding with that classic Luke Combs charisma. It is a collaboration among the group and Treaty Oak Revival that brings the EP back to an upbeat state with frustrated lyrics for us to fall into before we land on the final track.

“Is You” ends the EP, returning us to an ambient field of sentiment as we drive home and pull into the driveway. The track picks up about halfway through, re-exploring that rock sound and finishing up the album in a fade, almost as if to signify the love he sings about going on endlessly like “a drive through Montana.”

Ultimately, we can’t wait to see what other projects and announcements come from this band in the future. They’re already off to a strong start with this debut EP.

Meet Dylan Marlowe’s new band, 80 Acres, and listen to their brand new, hot-out-the-oven EP.