Indie rock is rarely witty or sexy. So Wet Leg, with their witty singles about sexy furniture (Chaise Longue) and late-night emissions (Wet Dream), their Mean Girls quotes and single entendres, are sometimes regarded with suspicion. Unfair. They come to bring joy. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers first met at the Isle of Wight College and made some promising if introspective music together and apart over the following decade. Revelation came when the pair decided to take it a little less seriously while careening around a festival.
Teasdale stopped writing “unlistenable” piano pieces and learned guitar, which Chambers already played. They assembled a band with fellow islanders Josh, Henry and Ellis, booked gigs and self-directed some videos, Teasdale using her experience as wardrobe assistant on Ed Sheeran videos to design their distinctive “serious hat-wearing cottage-core lady” look. A record deal arrived after just two songs, then during lockdown the duo sketched out their debut album. “Our first songs were really crass, about getting abducted by aliens,” recalls Teasdale. “We’ve reined in the crass but kept the fun.”
You could pick out splinters of American new wave and British post-punk from their deadpan vocals and sharp-elbowed songs, but the broad range of acts they’ve been compared to proves they have a swagger of their own. Florence, Iggy Pop and Hayley Williams love them – and so must you.
• Wet Dream is out now on Domino. Wet Leg are currently touring the UK
