These days, rarely is buzz sustained, and rarely does it even happen at all for indie-rock. Gone is the nineties MTV Buzz Bin, or the blog hit mp3s of the aughts. Yet somehow the Isle of Wight’s Wet Leg not only found buzz with their indie-rock, but sustained it through multiple singles and now their killer self-titled debut full-length, which lives up to the hype & hope.
Wet Leg had been proceeded by a number of great singles, which whetted the appetite and saw the group sell out big spaces before their debut was even out. Naturally, the album has those singles, so there is some stuff you already know – and love. There’s the breakthrough, the already-classic “Chaise Lounge” (QRO review), with its indie-push, plus the tiny/shred mix (and killer lyrics) of “Angelica” (QRO review), and the both subdued and exploding closer “Too Late Now” (QRO review). All those songs and more have Wet Leg’s wry attitude, their killer weapon that is used at just the right level, sarcastic without being overly so, the girl who’s approachable but can also cut you down.
One could say that there’s a nineties feel to the kiss-off of “Ur Mum”, if you grew up in the nineties. Or an early twenty-first century slyness to “Wet Dream”, if you came up then. But Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers’ nature is as old and of the now as feminism, just popping somebody’s bubble. And Wet Leg also display a sadder, more vulnerable side with the heartbreak of “Loving You”, and the cutting “Piece of Shit”.
Wet Leg already had lots of fans before Wet Leg came out – and high expectations, which have thankfully been met & more. Here’s to buzz still mattering, still delivering, even in the 2020s!
