On Nov. 30, one of Cincinnati’s favorite indie bands, Leggy, will appear at Over-the-Rhine’s premiere venue for local music, MOTR Pub. Leggy brings a well-honed melody machine to every stage they grace, and their devoted fans are always treated to peak and polished performances. Every energetic and catchy song that engulfs any space they perform in saturates the ears of all who are lucky enough to hear them, and sends everyone home with sonic “earworms” that will bounce around inside their heads for days.
Leggy began in 2013 when guitarist and lead vocalist Veronique Allaer moved to Cincinnati after finishing her undergraduate degree. Though planning to attend graduate school, a freak accident, in which she fell from a fire escape (miraculously, only suffering a broken hip), made Allaer reassess her plans. In speaking about that experience, Allaer tells CityBeat, “The major long-term consequence of the accident was that I decided life is too short to pursue anything other than my dream, no matter how outlandish it seemed.” And it was at this point that Allaer put Leggy in motion.
Leggy has released three albums since 2016: their debut self-titled album in 2016 (remastered and re-released in 2017), Let Me Know Your Moon in 2019, and their most recent and highly acclaimed collection of songs Dramatica in 2023. The recording of this third record began in March of 2020, at producer Paul Cherry’s home studio in Chicago. But like so many artistic endeavors, the project was brought to a screeching halt by the pandemic, with the album nearly complete, and only the vocals remaining. But like all great artists, after the reality of the situation set in, Allaer used the time to dig deeper into her work, and spent the coming months experimenting with her vocals. Then, eventually, when the world reopened, the vocals were added, and Dramatica was born.
Though every song on Dramatica is special to Leggy, two songs in particular rise to the surface for the band. “Take It Back,” a song about the complex feelings of hanging on to relationships that have fundamentally changed, is presented brilliantly in a music video. Filmed by d5 Pictures on the campus of Wittenberg University and Ace of Cups in Columbus, the video features Allaer as she portrays a nun being broken out of a convent by her bandmates to perform at a gig. “Lipstick On The Mic” was inspired by a live performance where Leggy opened for The All American Rejects at Bogart’s.
Leggy, a four-piece band consisting of Allaer on guitar and lead vocals, Chris Campbell on drums, Sarah Hanselman on bass and backing vocals and Alessandro Corona on keys, is hard at work on their fourth album, and have plans to release it in the spring of 2025.
Leggy, along with Mall Witch and Loveseat (Ft. Wayne), play MOTR Pub on Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. More info: motrpub.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Nov. 27 print edition.
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 10, 2024.
