08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Moisturizer' Review: Wet Leg Doubles Down
If you were an indie-rock fan in 2021, you had an opinion on Wet Leg's debut single, 'Chaise Longue.' The song, built on the quiet/loud structure that defined '90s alternative rock, wasn't formally daring or particularly confrontational, but it rapidly became ubiquitous. And when that happens to a tune from a previously unknown act, some find it hard to trust, wondering if industry machinations might be behind it all. When the band, led by the English duo Rhian Teasdale (lead vocals, guitar) and Hester Chambers (guitar, vocals), finally released its self-titled debut in April 2022, its remit was to prove that there was more to the project than a viral single. It did so handily—'Wet Leg' had at least a half-dozen good-to-great songs and showed a decent amount of stylistic range.
Also embedded within 'Wet Leg' were signs of where the band might later go wrong. Here and there, the group's devil-may-care attitude gave way to a more solemn approach that sounded comparatively conventional. It was possible to imagine a future record where Wet Leg teams with a hit-making super-producer, leans toward pop, and chases a younger audience with straightforward songs about relationships and personal growth. Fortunately, the band's second album, 'Moisturizer' (Domino), out Friday, does none of that. Rather, it finds Wet Leg doubling down on what made it stand out in the first place—oddball humor, disarming expressions of lust and catchy, quirky tunes touching on antecedents like the Breeders and Elastica that avoid sounding like mere novelty.
