Leggy is an emerging group out of Cincinnati’s punk scene made up of high school friends Véronique Allaer, Kerstin Bladh, and Chris Campbell. They describe themselves as “blond-heavy nü garage indie punk poptarts,” which is totally apt, since genre-wise they’re neither here nor there—they’re a little punk, a little pop, a lot of dynamic changes. In April, they debuted their first EP, Cavity Castle, which was co-produced by John Hoffman and the drummer of Cincinnati trash pop outfit Tweens, Jeri McQueen. You can hear a familiar brand of snark in Leggy, but with a tad more bubblegum sweetness in the vocals.
The EP feels a bit like the end of summer. While some of the tracks are warm-weather jams, all are varying degrees of dark in hue. Allaer said in an interview with The Grey Estates that Cavity Castle is “the sounds of a girl caught in a ‘he loves me/he loves me not’ whirlwind pseudo-relationship,” and the whirlwind is certainly audible. Within the span of six tracks, the EP shifts effortlessly from upbeat and poppy to moody and contemplative and back. Allaer’s voice is dynamic, changing in tone from saccharine to arrestingly fierce. While “Sweet Teeth” is fuzzed-out and dancey, “Alexander” channels PJ Harvey in the gripping intensity of the vocals and broody minor-key chord progression. The band maintains simplicity in their songwriting—a couple of the songs, like “Honey”, were written when the members were just 15—and still manages to pack a big punch.
Leggy just finished their first-ever tour playing with IAN last week, and they’re set to play Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati at the end of the month. They’ll be playing the fest’s “Ladies First” showcase alongside Speedy Ortiz, EMA, and Ex-Hex. You can check them out on bandcamp and stream Cavity Castle below.
