Leggy

In 2012, Véronique Allaer—the future lead singer of Ohio's dream-punk trio Leggy—suffered a serious fall from a fire escape that broke her hip. The injury forced her to abandon graduate-school plans and settle into a Cincinnati home shared with high-school bandmates Kerstin Bladh and Christopher Campbell. With Allaer now fronting the group on vocals and guitar, Bladh supplying bass and backing vocals, and Campbell on drums, the three began shaping songs that merged classic punk and '90s grunge textures with bubblegum-pop melodies while recalling the work of fellow Midwesterners Wussy. Originally called Sweet Teeth, they changed their name to Leggy after learning of an Australian band already using the same title. Their first recording, the self-released EP Cavity Castle, appeared in 2014 and was followed in 2015 by the six-track Nice Try EP. A busy 2016 touring schedule, capped by the release of the Dang EP, secured them a slot at the SXSW festival in Texas. The performance drew the attention of George Gargan, head of the U.K. label Damnably, who signed the band on the spot. The British imprint moved quickly to issue the self-titled debut album later that year, collecting material from the earlier EPs and adding one new track.