Wet Leg return with new single, ‘Catch These Fists’
When Wet Leg first rose to prominence with their debut single, ‘Chaise Longue’ in 2021, they arguably shook up the indie rock scene with their playful lyricism that was laced with humour and double entendres.
The Isle of Wight duo, consisting of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, were a refreshing burst of life in a genre that was lacking a commercial crossover act at the time, and the rapid trajectory that they experienced afterwards led them from strength to strength, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2022 to near-universal acclaim.
The stratospheric rise was then met with almost two years of complete silence, which led many to speculate that the band had either quietly called it a day, or were hard at work on their next chapter and creating another seismic wave in indie rock.
The former was, of course, not true, and last week when the band teased their return with two secret shows in Brighton and London under the name ‘Uma Thurman’, many realised that new music was on the horizon for the group.
With the announcement of new album, Moisturizer, which arrives on July 11th, Wet Leg return with single ‘Catch These Fists’ is certainly a return of Wet Leg’s energy, but doesn’t appear to have caught the band making any attempt to evolve dramatically.
It isn’t a complete rehashing of their old style, but speaking to Radio 1’s Jack Saunders after the song’s premiere, Teasdale said: “I don’t think we felt any pressure to switch it up,” adding that “we were all excited to write together.”
The ‘all’ in question refers to the expanded lineup of the band, after they chose to add their three touring members as permanent fixtures in the group for their second record, and while there is an added beefiness to the song, which carries a repetitive dance-punk rhythm and guitar lick and a sense of aggression to it, there are still plenty of the old Wet Leg hallmarks present on this first taste of new material.
In the interview, Teasdale revealed that the song is “about the recurring real-life nightmare of people invading your space,” explaining that the song was inspired by how the safe space she and her friends had felt seeing Chappell Roan perform at Brixton Academy completely dissolved when they attended a local bar afterwards.
Teasdale’s sardonic sprechgesang is still here, and there are sure to be small snippets that get quoted to death for the remainder of the summer like their previous singles have proffered, with the pre-chorus chants of “man down” and “level up”, and “stupid is, stupid does” being the most likely candidates.
A band doesn’t always have to show growth, and sometimes, just letting fans know that you’re still there and have the same enthusiasm is enough, but this first offering doesn’t do much to suggest that we’re entering a new era of Wet Leg, only continuing the first era with buoyant confidence.
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