Wet Leg. Wet Leg

If there's one new band that can safely and proudly wear the moniker "indie darlings", it seems like there's only one contender. Wet Leg only had to release one single last year to be the promise of the future of rock and roll and more. Yes, WoNoBlog was there from that very first single. Totally surprised by that weird song that simply would not leave my head. It refused to do so. Is 'Chaise Longue' an extremely good song? Did it upend my musical taste or smash all my previous musical tastes to smithereens? No, all not true and yet. 'Chaise Longue' is unbeatable with its weird lyric and repetitive rhythm and basic guitar riff. It is pumping good. And so was the second single, 'Wet Dream'. In fact I think it's better. A lot better.

The singles that followed, we reviewed four more, all wetted my appetite. They made the promise of the album higher and higher. Especially 'Angelica' worked really well with me. There's even a sixth single, 'Ur Mom', but as the album is upon us, I stopped with the singles. Six singles, is half the LP, by the way. There's not that much more to discover, a downside to 'Wet Leg'. How is the album as a whole? Were expectations not raised too high?

The first listening sessions spell one message: promise delivered. A live show you can find on You Tube confirms Wet Leg is ready to take on the world. A mix of modesty, girlish restraint, huge surprise and punk rock. As the band is ready to tour the whole world, the mix will most likely wear off fast, when exhaustion sets in and the songs have been played for the 100th time in a short period of time. Those who saw the band already, may be the ones counting themselves lucky quite soon.

Wet Leg is a duo, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, who started playing together on the Isle of Wight in 2019. Two years later the first single saw the light of day. On stage the duo is accompanied by three men on bass, drums and guitar/keyboards and background vocals. Together they are unbeatable. The five piece rocks and swings.

Wet Leg certainly fits into a long line of bands and artists. Its rock and roll is infused by elements of punk and alternative rock. The vocal melodies, in a very trendy way, do an extremely elegant pirouette on the edge of a steep ravine. They sing and play like a thousand bands and singers before them, with one huge difference. Wet Leg has the better songs and the more charming presentation. The voices of Teasdale and Chambers, assisted by their three men, are better. The music of Wet Leg has it. Just like it's labels mates Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys. For all three the very first (or second for FF) single made all the difference in the world.

Fans of Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Amber Arcades will all find something they like here. For me Wet Leg has opened another musical path. I so do not know what it is with 2022, but so far this is an exceptional year in music. I can't tell whether I still think so 8 months from now, but at this point in time I have another contender for album of the year. 'Wet Leg' has totally convinced me of being brilliant.

Wout de Natris

You can buy Wet Leg on Wet Leg's bandcamp site:

https://wetleg.bandcamp.com/album/wet-leg