Sounds Like: Your friends made the record of the year, and everyone is invited.
Hype is a weird thing. It attaches so fast, and can grow so quick that it can sometimes capsize the very thing it’s promoting. How many times have you picked up an album, or gone to a movie, after being inundated with the hype, only to go “is that it?” It’s a dangerous thing. Hype destroys expectations and can create a backlash that some artists never get over.
Enter Wet Leg. I’m struggling to think of a band - any band - that had more hype around them BEFORE their album was released. I have to admit, I was skeptical going into my first spin. I really tried to level set my expectations. Now, having played it through, I’m here to tell you about the hype- it doesn’t do Wet Leg justice. They’re better than anyone has let on. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but every song here could be a strong single.
What stands out at first is how stripped down their sound is. A mix of crunchy guitars and rumbling bass, the instrumentation moves out of the way of the songs, and that’s where the magic is. The songs are funny, frank and disarmingly conversational. On the digital copy of the album, all but three songs have the little explicit lyric denotation. Of those three “safe” songs one is titled “Wet Dream” and the other talks about getting “The Big D.” That last one being “Chaise Lounge,” the albums single and an absolute delight of double entendre.
Don’t be thrown off though, you hardly notice anything explicit. The songs are cheeky, and direct, but also warm and inviting. Lovely moments like “Loving you” happen and you realize what is so captivating about Wet Leg: It’s honest. Their are no affectations, no pretensions. Listening to this album is like hanging with a group of friends you can’t stop giggling with. A group of friends that write incredible choruses. I mean, C’mon - how many of us, if writing songs with our buddies, wouldn’t end up with one titled “Ur Mom?” The difference being Wet Leg know how to make it an absolute Bop. By the time you get to “Supermarket” and they yell out about “Buy One Get One Free!” you’re in their world. It’s an amazing little moment - it hits like an inside joke that we’re all in on.
I can’t stop playing this album, and also I have a hard time seeing the hype ever backfiring on it. It’s that rare work of art that in it’s honesty - with all it’s entendres and expletives - it’s absolutely pure.
INTUITION OF THE INSTANT
CARGO COLLECTIVE LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
CARGO COLLECTIVE LOS ANGELES, CALIF.