Pittsburgh local music spotlight: The Zells

Mike Palm
Monday, July 7, 2025 8:05 a.m. | Monday, July 7, 2025 8:05 a.m.

The Zells

Pittsburgh’s The Zells

The Zells released a pair of singles — “Dog’s Night” and “You Are Not the Moon” — on July 1 as the band looks forward to even more new music down the road.

“The plan is to start recording our third full length album in early 2026,” bassist Roman Benty said. “We’re writing it now.”

Released via Pittsburgh-based independent record label Crafted Sounds, the singles were recorded this spring in friends’ living rooms and attics.

“‘Dog’s Night’ is a song about how the practices and habits in one’s life can, and will, inevitably catch up to you,” said Frank Dinardo. “What had fueled us in one chapter can be a detriment in another and ignoring this mortal fact can stunt one’s growth. The only dignified thing to do when reaching one of these crossroads is to confront this reality with grace and begin the process of transmuting the calluses into something greater. ‘Dog’s Night’ is an expression of this realization.”

“‘You Are Not The Moon’ is about accepting the unexpected ending of a life-long friendship,” Benty said. “Interests and passions are different than values and actions; overtime, it becomes easier to understand that our choices make us who we really are. When a friend’s choices show you who they really are, you have to believe them. Moreover, you can’t trust anyone who writes excessively about ‘The Moon.’”

Benty filled in TribLive on what else you should know about The Zells:

Band: The Zells

Band members: Roman Benty (bass, vocals); Frank DiNardo (guitar, drums, vocals); Tyler Gallagher (drums, guitar, vocals); Phil Kenbok (guitar, vocals); Jackson Rogers (guitar, vocals)

Founding story: All of us with the exception of Tyler had gone to high school together at Shaler Area and had been playing in various bands with each other since then. We met Tyler through playing shows around town in the DIY scene in the early/mid 2010s. In 2015 we asked him to join the project we had going, and after our first time playing together in March 2016, we knew we had something interesting and exciting going for us creatively. So began the story of The Zells.

Origin of band’s name: We used to be called “Denzell” back in the day. Then Jackson Boytim, a local promoter, started calling us “The Zells” as a way to refer to all of us, and it caught on so we just changed the name to that.

For fans of: The Pillows, Titus Andronicus, Fountains of Wayne, Sugar, Rock and Roll, Archers of Loaf, Pavement, The Replacements, The Libertines

Influences: Beulah, The Breeders, Japanther, Girlsareshort, Guided by Voices, Big Star, Todd Rundgren, Baked, Lost Boy?, The Clash, “Party Down,” The Beatles, Tom Robbins

Releases: “Failure to Slide” album, 2018; “No More Heroes” EP, 2019; “Ant Farm” album, 2022; “Queensburgh” split album with Baked, 2023

Next shows: July 11, Pie Shop in Washington D.C.; July 12, Cousin Danny’s in Philadelphia; July 20 at Government Center (Pittsburgh) with Mopar Stars and Silver & Gold

How to find them: The Zells can be found at Bandcamp and @the_zells on most social media channels.

Other Pittsburgh area bands to check out: Dumplings, Silver Car Crash, Rex Tycoon, Forty Winks, Sad Bulldog, ianianian

Favorite pizza shop: Possible conflict of interest because Tyler works at Rockaway

Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.

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Pittsburgh local music spotlight: The Zells

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