The buzziest band of the moment slipped into Sheffield last week for a blink and you’ll miss it show at The Foundry and we’re here to tell you, DO believe the hype!
Following the release of their eponymous debut album, and just before it smashed into the charts in top spot last weekend, Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg found time to sweep into Sheffield for a breathless, whistle-stop show.
The band came to prominence in 2021 with viral sensation Chaise Longue and following the lifting of pandemic imposed restrictions have gone on to unveil more of their uniquely millennial sound, featuring snarky wordplay, deadpan delivery and post-punk sensibilities that everyone and their horny brother is banging on about.
Photo credit: Mal Wichelow
Against this backdrop of critical and commercial success, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers celebrated their newfound notoriety at the Foundry with an intimate Bear Tree Records show at a slightly unusual gig-going time.
With a prompt 8pm kick off, offering barely enough time to slurp a pre-match pint, they ripped through their set in an efficiently snappy 30 minutes, leaving us feeling like they’d roughed us up a bit – and y’know what, I think we were all kinda fine with that!
Despite the early start, the capacity crowd was full of anticipation pre-show – would the charm of bangers like Chaise Lounge and Wet Dream hold up in a live setting?
Photo credit: Mal Wichelow
The answer is broadly, yes. Especially in the case of those two tracks. Chaise Lounge pounds along with glee at its own sardonic innuendo (‘I went to school and I got the big D’, ‘Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?’) and the unbearably catchy chorus is chanted back at the band hypnotically, becoming more insistent with every recycling.
Wet Dream, which torpedoes the idea of being the object of masturbatory fantasies, gets the (half-pissed, I mean, it is early!) pogoing started, but there’s more to Wet Leg than low-key irreverent verses and exploding guitar riff-led choruses, with recent single Angelica, as well as Ur Mum and Supermarket showing a dynamism that bodes well for future releases.
Photo credit: Mal Wichelow
Teasdale and Chambers are captivating in a live setting, oozing cool girl charm and sneaking fleeting, knowing glances at each other throughout. There isn’t much in the way of audience interaction, other than when Teasdale thanks everyone for buying the records, and even that feels a little bit sneering. All this only adds to the mystique.
Clearly, they’re tickled pink that, despite only learning to play guitar to write songs for Wet Leg, they’ve managed, in a very short time (and with a very short set), to capture pretty much everyone’s imagination. Live performances of this sort of quality will only serve to get more on board the already rammo hype train.
