Wet Leg – Moisturizer
Wet Leg, with their quirkier-than-thou name and lyrics, became post-pandemic indie darlings. They were the band it was cool to like, and then not cool to like, as they were too hip and successful by half. Dads who listened to 6Music started liking them and getting nostalgic for trippier, student days. How dare they.
However, they were/are that popular because they were criminally good. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers’s irreverent lyrics complemented an eclectic musical sensibility that made them not just trendy but entertaining. Tracks like Chaise Longue and Wet Dream will last long beyond haughty, hipster delight because they are fantastic songs.
With their difficult second album, Moisturizer, then, Teasdale and Chambers set themselves a tough task. The playful weirdness and novelty have had to dissipate somewhat with time. Yet, this is still a great record.
Opening with CPR and a driving bassline, Teasdale doesn’t so much dip into personal territory as dive headlong into imagined relationship disaster.
“Is it love or suicide?” may sound bleak as a lyric, but one dares say it captures the essence of despairing, over-the-top feelings many of us have no doubt had. Next up is Liquidize – with its hints of country turning it into a classy pop song.
Lead single Catch These Fists – into which all the pent-up anger of suddenly becoming botherable superstars appears to have been distilled – provides an angular counterpoint. Lyrics like, “I don’t want your love, I just wanna fight,” feel like a bareknuckle challenge to overly adoring fans as much as a spurned admirer.
Then there is the lovely, affecting track Davina McCall. Named after the Big Brother presenter, who was arguably the face of the 2000s, bizarrely, it’s a tender love song.
After its opening stylistic pyrotechnics, the latter half of the album could feel underwhelming. It perhaps lacks the distinctive “you have to hear this band” pull of their eponymous debut.
Yet songs like Pokemon and Pillowtalk are in some ways enjoyable because of that. They are a sign of maturity, and enjoying the fact that, having made it big, Wet Leg can enjoy and indulge themselves.
The group’s breadth is summed up by the closing three tracks, the rocky Don’t Speak, brooding 11:21, and the raucously pop U and Me at Home.
It’s a fine finish to an album that may lack the visceral cut through of their debut, but one that proves Wet Leg will be with us and making interesting music for a while yet.
Mark Worgan
Image: Alice Backham
Moisturizer is released on 11th July 2025. For further information or to order the album, visit Wet Leg’s website here.
Watch the video for Catch These Fists here:
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