Rhian Teasdale strides forward on Brixton Academy’s stage, raising her arms either side of her head and flexing her biceps like a prize boxer. It’s a pose that feels like both a challenge and a statement of intent – Wet Leg are back and they’re coming out swinging.
Tonight (May 23) marks the second night of the band’s first UK headline tour in support of their second album, ‘Moisturizer’ (due in July), and presents the Isle Of Wight band in new and improved form. Previously, the group – centred around Teasdale and guitarist Hester Chambers – often looked bemused and in awe of the stages they were performing on and the crowds they were performing to. The whirlwind that started with ‘Chaise Longue’ in 2021 quickly grew to hectic levels, leaving the band little time to settle into their new roles as the next anointed stars of British indie.
Now, though, a shift is evident. New songs like recent single ‘Catch These Fists’ and the swooning indie-pop of ‘Davina McCall’ see Teasdale putting down the guitar and stepping more into the frontwoman role, her moves backed by intention and a fresh confidence that ooze star power. Chambers maintains her position at the back of the stage, happy to stand sideways on to the crowd, but there are glimpses of the pair’s dynamic that started this whole thing during the likes of ‘Being In Love’, when Teasdale joins her friend and bandmate to dance with their guitars in front of the drum riser.
Between songs, the old Wet Leg shine through, too. Teasdale’s banter is still half-mumbled into the microphone and courses with that awe of old. “This is a big room,” she remarks at one point of the 5,000-capacity venue, but it pales in comparison to the stadiums and outdoor spaces they were becoming a fixture in as support act to Harry Styles and Pulp. The band’s performance tonight suggests it’s far from the biggest venue they’ll be seeing as they release and tour this new album.
A good chunk of that record is on display tonight, but frustratingly, many of Teasdale’s vocals are hard to hear. When you can make them out, though, they suggest another album of memorable songwriting. There are kiss-offs in the same vein as those on ‘Wet Leg’’s ‘Ur Mum’. “You think I’m pretty / You think I’m pretty cool / You wanna fuck me / I know, most people do,” she shrugs in the alt-country twang of ‘Mangetout’.
There are also sweet admissions that nod to a new loved-up era. “You’re my sweet baby angel,” Teasdale declares on ‘Davina McCall’. “You know that I would do anything for you / It’s like a dream come true.” When the singer picks up an old-school phone receiver on the closing ‘CPR’ – a jagged, grungy anthem-in-waiting – she cries into it: “I / I / I / I’m in love!”
What Wet Leg excelled at the first time round was whipping crowds up into giddy states with their bouncy indie. The enthusiasm for those songs has only grown stronger since the last time they toured, the “longest and loudest scream” in ‘Ur Mum’ a deafening, venue-wide effort, and every surreal line of ‘Wet Dream’ bellowed back at them with vigour. By the time ‘Chaise Longue’ rolls around, the crowd – and band – are more than warmed up for a suitably spirited version. Sound issues aside, Wet Leg’s return is a knockout.
Wet Leg played:
‘Catch These Fists’
‘Liquidize’
‘Oh No’
‘Being In Love’
‘Wet Dream’
‘Supermarket’
‘Pillow Talk’
‘Davina McCall’
‘Piece Of Shit’
‘Ur Mum’
‘Too Late Now’
‘Jennifer’s Body’
‘Mangetout’
‘Angelica’
‘Chaise Longue’
‘CPR’