“Moisturizer” (Domino Records)
By Eleni P. Austin
“You say I’m lovely and you think I’m worth it all, I look at you, dead between the eyes, I say I know you are, but what am I?”
That’s Wet Leg, offering a bit of Pee Wee Herman-esque effrontery on “Liquidize,” a track off their brand-new album, Moisturizer. Somewhere between Blondie, PJ Harvey and Garbage, stands Wet Leg. The five-piece, which is fronted by Rhian Teasdale (vocals, guitars) and Hester Chambers (vocals, synths, guitars), generated plenty of buzz with their self-titled 2022 debut.
Rhian and Hester first connected about a decade before Wet Leg, when they were both students at Isle Of Wight College. They remained friends as they both pursued music careers, Rhian as RHAIN, and Hester as part of the band Plastic Mermaids. The pair were inspired by seeing the Bristol band Idles perform at the Isle Of Wight Festival. The pair were determined to have more fun making music and formed Wet Leg in 2019.
Taking their cues from disparate influences as Bjork, Ty Segall, the Ronettes, White Stripes and Jane Birkin, Rhian switched from piano to guitar and they began to write music. Once they enlisted drummer Henry Holmes, bassist Ellis Durand and Josh Mobaraki on guitars and keys, the puzzle pieces fell in place.
During the pandemic, they were able to channel all their energies into Wet Leg. After writing and recording several demos, they directed and edited a video for their song “Chaise Lounge” in 2021. Once they signed with Domino Recordings, the label released the video as their first single. It quickly became a viral sensation, racking up a kajillion streams and reaching #27 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart in the U.S. A second single, the Disco-flavored “Wet Dream,” followed. By the end of the year, they had played a handful of live dates and released two more singles, “Too Late Now” and “Oh No.” All four hits were featured on Wet Leg’s eponymous long-player, which arrived in 2022. The album hit #1 in the U.K. and #14 in the U.S. It also netted the band couple Grammy wins, including Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Performance for “Chaise Lounge.” It was a meteoric rise for a band that originated in Isle Of Wight. Now they’re back with theirmuch-anticipated sophomore effort, Moisturizer.
The album opens with the one-two punch of “CPR” and the aforementioned “Liquidizer.” On the former. loping bass lines, fuzzy guitars and bloopy keys are tethered to a cantering beat. Rhian’s mien is conversational as lyrics detail an all-consuming obsession: “I tied a rope around my waist, I tend to get lost in your eyes, I took a breath, jumped off a cliff because you told me to, is it love, or suicide? Is it love, or suicide? Is it love or suicide? Is it love?” The banger chorus is charged with falsetto urgency: “Put your mouth on mine, give me CPR, call it triple nine, give me CPR.” Of course, the emergency is love and the instrumental outro bleeds together with brutish efficiency.
The latter flips the script, sonically speaking, as Strummy acoustic guitars give way to whirring keys, slingshot bass and a stickity beat. Lyrically, this mid-tempo groover manages to juxtapose the antithetical sensations of insecurity and intoxication that accompanies new love: “So many creatures in the fucking world, how could I be the one, be your marshmallow worm, so many creatures and now it’s just you, how did I get so lucky, I got so lucky.” Electric guitar riffs ping-pong through the mix before the song powers down on a dime.
The pleasures and pain of new-found love seem to be the record’s leitmotif. Take the percolating “Davina McCall,” which name-checks a British TV presenter best known for her work on Big Brother. Swirly guitars are matched by swoony keys, buoyant bass and a hiccoughing beat. Lyrics offer to be yin to her beloved’s yang: “I’ll be your Davina, I’m coming to get you, fetch you from the station, never gonna let you go, it’s that kind of love/sipping on Ribena, fuck like Coca-Cola, ask if I love you, Baby, you already know, it’s that kind of love.” Rubbery guitars travers the melody’s meandering curves until the final declaration: “Never will I leave you stranded on an island, you know I will hold you tighter than a python, oh, it’s that kind of love.”
Then there’s the lovesick “Pillow Talk” which opens with a pummeling drum salvo, vroom-y keys, tensile bass and gritty guitars. The rat-a-tat melody and Rhian’s deadpan delivery share some musical DNA with The Nails classic New Wave song, “88 Lines About 44 Women.” Squally guitars punctuate each verse, leaving equivocation in the dust: “To sleep to dream, to fuck, to feel, you wanna eat me, I’ll be your carrot are you a bunny/I’ll let you have it, yeah, at night I go to sleep and you’re the only thing I dream about, when you tell a joke you make me laugh so maniacally, I can make you sticky, make you hot and screaming for after sun, I can make you beg, can make you wet like an aquarium, it’s all pillow talk.”
Meanwhile, the action slows on the drowsy “11:21.” Downcast keys wash over kinetic bass lines, shivery guitars and a thudding beat. Dropping the snark along with the wanton lubricity, lyrics offer up a tender testimonial to love: “I love you like nobody else, it’s not like the moon forgets to shine when I’m not with you, but it feels like it just might, if I hang around here, promise you’ll return upon the setting of the sun tonight.”
On a record stacked with superlative tracks, four stand out from the pack. “Jennifer’s Body,” which takes its name from the 2009 horror-comedy film, is scary, but in a different way. Shrouded vocals are cocooned by blurred guitars, hazy keys, static-y bass and a tick-tock beat. The frisson of mutual attraction is palpable, but it’s Rhian that throws caution to the wind: “From outta nowhere I just went and told you I like you, everyday starts and ends with you, hold me down I get high on you, go to sleep just so I can dream of you/I like you, can’t you see I’m obsessed with you, want a man? I’ll pretend for you, what’s a guy like me supposed to do?”
Ostensibly, “Pokemon” is another sappy love song, but this theme has yet to wear out its welcome. Sleek and propulsive, glossy guitars, brittle bass lines and slinky keys lattice a kinetic pulse. Confessional lyrics insist “Your kiss is all I’ll ever need, you taste so sweet, like Grenadine, you are my favorite human being, uh oh, oh, oh, oh/People will tell you this feeling will fade, but they don’t understand, they’re just not on our wave, from the start till the end every day all I want is you.” As she hands her love the reins, the song’s stride accelerates as giddy-up guitars ride roughshod atop a galloping gait, until the song shudders to a stop.
“Mangetout” (that’s snow peas to you), exhibits a a bit more cheek. Guitars slither and skronk, colliding with throbbing bass lines, springy keys and a rattle-trap beat. Rhian’s zero fucks given demeanor is mirrored by lyrics that offer up a flippant rejoinder to an unwanted suitor: “You think I’m pretty, you think I’m pretty cruel, you say I scare you, I know most people do, this is the real world Honey, Bienvenue, In spite of everything, I guess there’s just no getting through/Nice try, now get out of the way, good job, just take a fucking hint, I said I’ll see ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.
Finally, “Don’t Speak” matches marauding guitars, search-and-destroy bass line and piquant keys to a brawny backbeat. Rhian’s breathy vocals wrap around lyrics that move past a carnal connection and celebrate the shared sensation of love and commitment: “I don’t mind where we’re going, if it’s your hand baby, I’m holding, I don’t mind getting old, when it’s your hand, Sugar, I get to hold/I don’t speak Italian, and I don’t speak French, I don’t need je t’aime baby, you know this makes sense, I can say I love you just by looking in your eyes, I don’t need ti amo, but I’ll say it if you like, I’ll say whatever you like.”
Other interesting tracks include “Catch These Fists” which is equal parts seductive and combative. Staccato guitars strafe across spiny bass lines, chromatic keys and a walloping beat. Up in the club, Rhian’s slurred Lizzo-style vocals help her take an clingy admirer to task: “He don’t get the puss, he gets the boot, I saw him sipping on dark fruit, this always happens late at night, some guy comes up and says I’m his type/I just threw up in my mouth when he just tried to ask me out, yeah, don’t approach me, I’m just dancing with my friends.”
The spotlight shines on Hester with “Pond Song.” Sparring guitars connect with agile bass lines, rope-a-dope keys and a pugilistic backbeat. Lyrics limn a meet-cute scenario that delivers a winning combination: “I was a smalltown girl tryna make it big, you were working at the pub, round the corner from the gig, on a late night cat safari, no I didn’t see this coming/Off the hoof, off the cuff, it hit me like a roundhouse left hook, upper cut, kiss me once, once for luck, I’ve never been so, I’ve never been so deep in love.” Shards of guitar peek-a-boo between prowling bass lines on the break, splitting the difference between savagery and finesse.
The final song closes the album with a bang. “U And Me At Home” begins as something of a post-coital, connubial exhale as cooing vocals wash over sidewinder guitars, fluid bass, shimmering keys and a rippling beat. Besotted lyrics linger on the easygoing pleasures of domestic bliss: “Baby, we’re just stoned again, funny how that goes, I’m over everybody else, happy comatose/If I should get sad along the way, remind me it’s not so bad, when I’m with you it’s okay.” The shout-it-out chorus is a bit of joyful noise replete with yipping Coyote sounds. Wily guitar riffs dart across the break, amplifying the calibrated chaos. It’s a riotous finish to a great record.
Wet Leg hasn’t just doubled-down on the winning formula of their debut, they have managed to deftly sidestep the dreaded sophomore slump. Yes, Moisturizer is a great party record, rife with irresistible melodies and shout-it-out choruses. But the lyrics strike a balance between humor, candor and vulnerability. It feels as though there’s more at stake this time, which makes this effort all the more compelling.
