Album Review: Wet Leg - 'Wet Leg'
A truly intoxicating joy ride, Wet Leg’s debut album proves that they are a band destined for greatness.
Wet Leg is an idiom that has historically held very little currency within the common lexicon except perhaps, for those instances where one is unsuspectingly caught off guard by a surprisingly deep puddle on a rainy British day. However, a drunken conversation between Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers in 2019 would change that forever.
The band ‘Wet Leg’ was formed on top of a Ferris Wheel following a performance by Idles at the End of the Road Festival when Teasdale, weary from the trials and tribulations of trying to forge a career as a solo artist, joined forces with Chambers. The pair “agreed on the premise of their band there and then: as long as you’re having fun, then everything will be alright” Teasdale explained in a previous interview with NME. The bands self titled debut album is a definitive declaration that they have stuck to their founding principles and confirmation that they are without question Britains most exciting new band.
Despite forming in 2019, it wasn’t until two years later that the pair released their debut single. The now iconic ‘Chaise Longue’ was the perfect introduction to the band, fizzing with frenetic punk energy and accompanied by their signature dry wit, the track was an instant hit and catapulted them into the limelight almost overnight.
Off the back of the commercial success of ‘Chaise Longue’, it would be easy to assume that there is a lot riding on the release of the bands debut. With this comes an intense pressure that could easily warp and distort the creative direction of any group however, the bulk of ‘Wet Leg’ was recorded in London prior to the release of the hit single and the following critical acclaim, leaving us with a record that sparkles with the vibrancy of the unaffected and one that is sure to go down as an instant classic.
The main focus of the record was “good-times-all-the-time” and this is evident both sonically and lyrically throughout with track listing. Cuts like ‘Angelica’, ‘Too Late Now’ and ‘Being In Love’ seem to perfectly encapsulate the journey of youthful experience in all it’s hazy, intoxicating glory.
Produced by the legendary Dan Carey of Speedy Wunderground, the record contains the same polished rawness that has become synonymous with a great deal of his back catalogue. The partnership of Carey alongside Teasdale and Chambers is the perfect combination where intoxicating hooks coalesce with the bands wry lyricism to create a sound that has echoes of the likes of ‘Dry Cleaning’ and ‘Sports Team’ but is undeniably Wet Leg.
Some of the best moments on the record come on tracks like ‘Wet Dream’, ‘Ur Mum’ and ‘Piece Of Shit’ where the band lyrically eviscerate pretentious ex-boyfriends with a humorous ferocity that is inevitable to make fans laugh and dance in equal measure when the band head out on tour later this year.
‘Wet Leg’ is a truly electrifying experience from start to finish, perfectly encapsulating the rush of youth and wry reflections of lost love alongside danceable grooves that are guaranteed to make the bands debut an essential soundtrack for the summer and beyond.
Words by Jordan Corrigan
