Megan Merino

Ever since Wet Leg’s debut single ‘Chaise Longue’ permeated our airwaves in the summer of 2021, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers’ cheeky and absurd songs have been the talk of the town. Bridging the gap between Radio 1 tween and 6 Music dad with catchy drum loops, sexually suggestive lyrics (‘is your muffin buttered? Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?’) and suitably wacky visuals, the Isle Of Wight friends shot to relevancy, selling out an impressive string of tour dates across the UK, Europe and America. 

With no intention to let the dust settle, Wet Leg packs in one hit after another, leaving little room for surprises but successfully introducing the pair’s sound as an idiosyncratic blend of indie, rock and punk. As you might expect, the whole record is shrouded in an aura of effortlessness with cool up-tempo toe-tappers that speak to relationships, social media addiction and self-loathing sometimes earnestly, often humorously, but always relatably.

Raw and looped instruments (now key to Wet Leg’s sound) still remain, with some new tones and textures revealing themselves in the non-single tracks. A killer twangy guitar hook in ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out’ adds layers of Americana, while flashes of fun electronic synths, atonal chords and dissonant sounds contribute to more sonically interesting moments in songs like ‘Being In Love’ and ‘Oh No’.

Despite the integrity of each track, which fulfil their role of showcasing the duo’s wider musical and emotional range, it’s safe to say Wet Leg is unlikely to make as big of a splash as all of its constituent singles. It does, however, confidently solidify the pair’s presence as an exciting UK band and gives their discography (now up to a whopping 12 songs) a chance to catch up with their clout.

Album released on Domino records. Out now.