Rock opera? Those are the words that formed in the vast emptiness between my ears as the neon lit Leslie Rohonczy fired up her pickup truck and towed her album “Down From The Ether” out of the mud of obscurity.
You can’t regard these songs as components of something as mundane as an ordinary rock album. There’s too much theatrical seasoning sharing the soundstage with those muscular riffs for that and Ms. Rohonczy is so far from shy in her approach as to make a spotlight almost obligatory. I keep thinking of the arthouse excesses of Ann Magnuson as a sort of baseline but, as the acerbic “Reality” ably demonstrates, this is not the music of the land of canapés and champagne cocktails but that of the land of beer and burgers. Saturday night’s alright for more than texting, it would seem.
Despite having her feet firmly planted on blue collar ground, the sky seems to be no limit for Ms. Rohonczy with “Goodbye Moment” soaring straight over the horizon into big ballad territory with just enough devotional intent to counteract any excessive sentimentality whilst giving Scott Walsh the opportunity to build that bridge with his guitar.
I can see this album becoming a stage show. I really can. I would even buy a ticket (although I would, of course, be on the guest list).