I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I had never heard of Lobby Boxer (which is now one of my favorite band names to say) and I was surprised to find that they’d been around for ten years.

Like for Skullpresser, lead singer and amazing guitarist Zach Fendelman was in the floor with us, while the rest of the band was a few feet back on the “stage” (which may be elevated a couple of inches, if that).

The band was originally a trio with drummer Max Sandza and bassist Andrew Gurney (who is not afraid to play some cool basslines).  In 2020, they added second guitarist Jack Catalanotto who also plays wicked guitar lines.

As they opened, Fendelman played a quiet guitar while Catalanotto played a lead.  Fendelman sang quietly but after about a minute, the band blasted off and Fendelman sang in a great soaring emo style.  This was when I noticed that Gurney’s bass wasn’t simply following the chord pattern (which I love).  But after about two minutes the song took a kind of metal twist (Fendelman and Sandza’s first band was a metal band) and then switched back to the way the song started–but it ended with some serious guitar solo shredding.

So, in one song they threw in several different styles.  And they kept it up throughout the night–mixing all kinds of styles into one song, all held together by Fendelman’s excellent voice.

The person next to me was a big fan and knew their work really well and it was pretty fun to hear him react to songs I didn’t know.

The next one was an older song that opened with a simple guitar riff while the rest of the band crashed on (some wicked drumming from Sandza).  The middle section was pure chaos with stops and starts and insane five seconds of pounding drums or scratching guitars.  By this time I was in love with this band.

After the first two longer songs, Full Claw Mode changed things up by being a two minute blast of fast rock.

When they announced Stain Helicopter, the guy next to me went YES! and he was spot on.  This song was really interesting and super catchy with another neat middle section that had cool guitars and some thumping drums.

The next song up was from their debut album and it turned out that the woman next to me had taken the cover photo of that album ten years ago.  And the band was pretty happy that this woman was still hanging around with them.  It was probably my least favorite song (showing how much they had improved over the years) although there were still some really cool parts of the song (I think I just didn’t like the “fragile girl” part of the song).

Then they asked, nay, demanded that everyone grab a partner and get ready for the next song.  And as it opened it was an old school hoe-down.  It was superfun as everyone linked arms and swung around.  The song rocked out towards  the end, but it was a lot of fun and a cool change up before they returned to the newer more rocking No Failure.

They ended with Cable Girl, a song that was about buying too many able channels from a pretty saleswoman.  It started quietly but quickly launched into chaos resolving into a solid riff rocker.  Like the other songs, it was longer than a typical song.  It had a great breakdown section in which Catalanotto  played this weird jazzy chord over and over while the rest of the band went nuts–and Fendelman showed off some serious shredding.

The band totally blew me away and I’m really happy to have seen them.   They were also really friendly after the show.

1. Where I’m Going ∇
2. Grandpa Donut €
3. Full Claw Mode ∇
4. Stain Helicopter ∇
5. Fragile Girl £
6. Lover’s Lane $
7. No Failure ∇
8. Cable Girl ∇

∇ Head Shoulders Knuckles Floor (2024)
€ Eugene’s Preference (2019)
$ Big Bucks (2016)
£ Lobby Boxer (2014)