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Pop culture is essentially spurred by shocks to the system. When indie rock outfit Wet Leg (founded by longtime friends Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers in the Isle of Wight) first appeared on the music scene in 2019, they felt like a thrilling disruption to an overearnest mainstream: spiky, irreverent and superb fun onstage. Breakthrough singles “Chaise Longue” and “Wet Dream” flaunted their larkish energy, but their excellent 2022 self-titled debut album, which earned them Grammys and Brit Awards, proved they had staying power.
This heady whirl built expectation around their next album. Wet Leg did things their way — shaking off enquiries by fibbing that they’d finished the record years ago, then slipping off with their touring bandmates (drummer Henry Holmes, guitarist/keyboardist Josh Mobaraki and bassist Ellis Durand) to create a surreal second chapter.
On Moisturizer, the band have officially become a quintet, though Teasdale and Chambers remain at the forefront of the sound. Thematically, there is also a shock revelation: Wet Leg are now serving love songs. This seems a stark contrast to the anti-romance stance of their debut, but the album is also splendidly headstrong in its delivery, from the catchy bass-fuelled groove of opening number “CPR”, where lead singer Teasdale drily answers her own emergency services call (“is it love or is it suicide?”).
Most of the album is powered by a delicious tension between the prospect of love and raw lust. It’s also a celebration of personal experience and power; Teasdale has spoken about realising her queer identity in her current relationship, and her vocals — surly then soaring — sound wonderful here, while Chambers’s own songwriting includes the sweetly wispy indie serenade “Pond Song”.
The overall effect is both wholesome and pleasingly provocative. Dan Carey’s production feels tightly paced and tracks feel primed to blast through summer festival sets. The band’s sound has always drawn from varied influences, from new wave to 1990s riot grrrl, and Moisturizer’s track-listing reads like a pop culture hot mess: the breezy melody of “Davina McCall” takes inspiration from the Big Brother presenter’s catchphrase, “I’m coming to get you!”; the sharply funky “Jennifer’s Body” namechecks a 2009 cult feminist horror-comedy movie; “Pokemon” is an endearing and elated burst of electronic pop.
The punchy single “Catch These Fists”, with its “man down!” refrain, takes a dig at leery predators, while the closing track “U And Me At Home” is wryly cosy: “Maybe we could start a band/ As some kinda joke/ Well that didn’t quite go to plan”. Whatever; this album is a definite keeper.
★★★★☆
‘Moisturizer’ is released by Domino
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