Ranking every Wet Leg song from their debut album
How long should you wait before releasing your follow-up? It’s a different answer for everyone, but for most artists, there are few things more terrifying than having to come back from critical and commercial acclaim with something bigger and better. As the world waits patiently, indie rockers Wet Leg are facing that very conundrum.
One-album wonders aren’t rare in the world of pop music. Some of those artists are by circumstance, like the acrimonious break that caused the Sex Pistols to stall out at their debut release. Others are by choice, like how Ms. Lauryn Hill has shied away from producing a proper follow-up to her massively influential The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Sometimes, bands simply can’t stack up, like how Boston used all their best material on their debut.
Time will tell where Wet Leg lands on these lists, but it’s certainly too early to count them out. The Isle of Wight duo took the indie rock world, and even the mainstream music world, by storm with the release of their debut single ‘Chaise Longue’ just over two years ago. With their debut LP coming in April of 2022, we are now officially in the mode to hear what is coming next.
Just to specify, this list will only include original songs released by the band. That means that their covers of ‘Bad Habit’ or ‘Smoko’, their remixes of other songs like Depeche Mode’s ‘Wagging Tongue’, and even their own remixes are not eligible. We’re also excluding the bonus songs ‘It’s a Shame’ and ‘It’s Not Fun’ for not appearing on the main edition of the album. That means there are 12 songs to contend for the title of best Wet Leg song.
Ranking every Wet Leg album track:
12. ‘Supermarket’
Not that it exclusively has to be this way, but don’t we all like Wet Leg best when they’re taking the piss out of someone or something? Maybe love songs will be the way of the future for the duo, but as it stands now, their ode to young love getting high and wasting time at the local shop is probably their weakest effort.
If you happen to be charmed by the lackadaisical backing vocals and the repetitious final chorus, then hey, more power to you. But the lethargic track purposefully sits as the penultimate song on Wet Leg, where it will most likely be forgotten for the rest of the band’s career.
11. ‘Loving You’
Remember what I said about taking the piss? Now, this is the way to do it. Don’t let the title of ‘Loving You’ fool you – this song is almost the complete opposite of that sentiment. With cutting lines like “Don’t call me up / You fucked it up / I’m not your friend / I’m not your pal / You’re fucking wishing / That I was though”, ‘Loving You’ keeps Rhian Teasdale’s habit of lashing out in the funniest possible way going strong.
So why isn’t this song higher? Well, it doesn’t quite have the same memorable qualities as the rest of the band’s material. What could have been saved by a stronger melody instead turns into a meandering and perfectly average indie rock track. If you want razor-sharp critiques of idiot guys and fuck ups, there are plenty of other choices on Wet Leg.
10. ‘Oh No’
When Wet Leg released their fourth single, ‘Oh No’, it felt like yet another killer track from a band that was seriously on a roll. And all that’s true: any song that gets giddy squeals by mentioning pizza rat is A-OK in my book. There are also some great hooks that bring you right in, hence why the song was picked as a single.
But ‘Oh No’ tends to lose some of its lustre once it gets compared to the rest of the songs on Wet Leg. It’s exceedingly simple in both music and lyrics, with a melody that directly follows its main riff like an old-school Black Sabbath song. ‘Oh No’ will always sound best the first time you hear it, but man, what a time that was.
9. ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out’
People have gotten mad at Wet Leg for a variety of reasons. Every single one has been more idiotic than the last, with general misogyny rubbing elbows with accusations of being industry plants and other shitty behaviour from trolls and people with way too much time on their hands. Sure, I’ve had to write about that too, but I get paid to do it… and I have too much time on my hands.
Anyway, it’s strange that no one has gotten upset over the fact that ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out’ almost directly apes the main riff from David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. Maybe everyone has suddenly gotten really cool and hip to the idea of semi-ironic references, but I’m not buying it. ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out’ is a pretty good track, but that riff is distracting because it’s literally just ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. Enjoy your new ammo against this band, losers.
8. ‘Being In Love’
You’ve got to give her credit: Teasdale nails the feeling of excitement and new possibilities that are found in ‘Being In Love’. It’s not always good. In fact, ‘Being In Love’ is more about how shitty it is to feel that way, complete with stumbling around, drinking, staying in bed, and giving up. But it’s true: that’s what being in love really feels like.
Complete with a fuzzy backing track and some driving bass, ‘Being In Love’ pulls its weight as the album’s opening track. It doesn’t stand among the band’s best tracks, but it’s a solid song that is slowly becoming one of the band’s better-known songs thanks to its prominent placement on the band’s debut.
7. ‘Chaise Longue’
I can literally remember the exact day when I first heard ‘Chaise Longue’. It was the summer of 2021, I was sick as a dog, and I absolutely hated the song. With its dick jokes and Mean Girl references, ‘Chaise Longue’ rubbed me exactly the wrong way. And then something funny happened – I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was so memorable that it forced its way into my brain.
You don’t have to take my word for it; here’s the review that I wrote on the day the song came out. ‘Chaise Longue’ will now and probably forever be the quintessential Wet Leg song, but one of the most exciting parts of the band’s rise to fame was that each new song was better than the last. It had to start with ‘Chaise Longue’, but just as a composition, it sits right in the middle of the band’s discography.
6. ‘Convincing’
One of the true delights of getting to hear Wet Leg was judging the album cuts next to their more well-known single counterparts. There were six preview singles from Wet Leg that dropped in the year between ‘Chause Longue’ and the album’s release – half of the album’s tracks – so most people felt like they had figured out what Wet Leg were about by this point.
And yet, a song like ‘Convincing’ popped up that showed that the band were more than just their singles. A charmingly ragged rock tune that gave Hester Chambers her most notable solo spotlight on the LP, ‘Convincing’ was a definitive statement that Wet Leg were putting love and care into every single one of their songs.
5. ‘Piece of Shit’
One of the funnier revelations that came out of Wet Leg’s success was the claims made by Teasdale’s former boyfriend, Douglas Richards. Richards claimed to have been an original member of the band and also claimed that he helped write songs like ‘Oh No’ and ‘Too Late Now’. The funny part was that he admitted to being the inspiration behind songs like ‘Ur Mum’ and ‘Wet Dream’.
He also publically confirmed that he was the piece of shit behind ‘Piece of Shit’. Why on earth anyone would sign up to willingly admit that is anybody’s guess, but based on his comments, he seems to embody everything that Teasdale lays out in ‘Piece of Shit’. Go figure, right?
4. ‘Angelica’
One of the major pulls of Wet Leg’s persona was how funny and relatable they were. Indie rock can be a horribly pretentious and eye-rolling genre to have to work in, filled with inflated egos and minimal talent. Even worse, everyone is in a shitty indie band, even the hot guys you hook up with at a party. All the free beer in the world can’t make you care about them or what they have to offer.
It’s pure genius that Wet Leg were able to translate that into a song as catchy and re-listenable as ‘Angelica’. The couplet of “I don’t want to follow you on the ‘Gram / I don’t want to listen to your band” will forever be what all unimpressed people will tell aspiring musicians next time they try to ruin a house party selling their crappy upstart songs, and for that, we are all eternally grateful to Wet Leg.
3. ‘Ur Mum’
For a while, it seemed like Wet Leg couldn’t lose. The surprise success of ‘Chaise Longue’ put them on the map, but each new song was more interesting than the last. That all came to a head right before the band released their debut album. With one final single to show the world, Wet Leg went with ‘Ur Mum’, the ridiculously mean and wonderfully devastating song that solidified their place as indie rock’s favourite new band.
‘Ur Mum’ really has everything: discontent for jackass boyfriends, ambivalence for dead-end towns, cursing, and especially that sustained scream at the heart of the song’s climax. It’s always hilarious hearing someone tell you to suck their dick, and the image of “getting blazed, spooning mayonnaise” is permanently branded into my brain.
2. ‘Wet Dream’
It was too early to call it “do-or-die”, but the perception of Wet Leg was fully dependent on ‘Wet Dream’. The band’s second single was going to be the deciding factor with regards to whether the band were true stars or just two silly people dressed in peasant outfits and singing about chaise longues. I won’t lie when I say that I was surprised at just how good ‘Wet Dream’ was.
And currently is, for that matter. Of all the band’s songs, ‘Wet Dream’ is probably their most universal. Insightful, catchy, and laugh-out-loud funny, the song remains a pillar of modern indie rock. Vincent Gallo also probably needs to surrender some royalty cheques to the band for keeping Buffalo ’66 relevant.
1. ‘Too Late Now’
When all the chips fall, it’s actually the closing track to Wet Leg that remains the album’s high point. A true culmination in every sense of the word, ‘Too Late Now’ contains everything that makes Wet Leg so great: killer hooks, fuzzy indie rock, hilarious insights, and surprisingly poignant sentiments. Plus, it makes you want to take a bubble bath, which is always a good thing.
Pairing a driving bass-heavy arrangement with pure chaotic excitement and a massive melody at its centre, ‘Too Late Now’ is currently the best thing that Wet Leg has done. Hopefully, that will change as the band grows and evolves, but if they can only hang their hat on ‘Too Late Now’, then that’s a hell of an accomplishment.
