Neckbeard Records - A Bad Idea Since 2009

 
(L-R: Dylan Thurston, drums; Wendy Spitzer, bass; Jay Cartwright, marvelon; Joe Mazzitelli, guitar. Photo Credit: Allie Mullin)

BIO 

On August 8, 2008, Lemming Malloy arrived. We know not from whence they came. Some say the band was birthed fully formed from the debris left in the wake of dearly-departed nerd-rockers Eyes To Space. Others claim Lemming Malloy to have sprung from a distant time.

In the end, though, all that matters is Lemming Malloy is here.

The quartet—whose members all reside in or near Chapel Hill, N.C. — will unveil its first full-length, The Return of The Norfolk Regiment, on May 22, 2009, via Neckbeard Records. It is a rock & roll tableau built around themes of self-reliance and independent discovery, much like the Enlightenment era which inspires the band’s visual aesthetic.

Indeed, as the aesthetic is informed by an age of great invention led mostly by individual tinkerers, so Lemming Malloy’s sound is forged from divergent pieces. Bits of Cheap Trick power pop and Genesis prog collide with lyrics filled with literary allusions and self-empowering themes. The result is a unique blend of influences that makes it hard to squeeze Lemming Malloy into an ill-fitting genre box. It rocks, though, that’s for certain.

Perhaps this hodgepodge of sonic influences comes from the band members’ divergent experiences. Guitarist Joe Mazzitelli splits his time between Lemming Malloy and the pop band I Was Totally Destroying It. Drummer Dylan Thurston has played with the likes of David Karsten Daniels, Bombadil and The Physics of Meaning. And bassist/singer Wendy Spitzer has her own project, Felix Obelix, which blends her classical training with avant-garde arrangements and pop structure.

But when this crew of musicians comes together under the leadership of Lemming Malloy’s intrepid frontman and principal songwriter Jay Cartwright, comparisons become moot. Lemming Malloy is a singular entity — a black sheep in an ocean of white wool.

SHOWS

Lemming Malloy - Sioux Falls, South Dakota from Mink Mumsey on Vimeo.