"The most hotly anticipated album of the year" may be an over used cliche, but in the case of Wet Leg after the singles "Chaise Longue", "Wet Dream", "Too Late Now", "Oh No" and "Angelica" it's a cliche that fits. And now it's here - was it worth the anticipative waiting?
On first listen, the album comes over as a bit insubstantial - nice enough, but nowt to really rave about. And then listen again and more is revealed. The intricacy of the instrumentation, to joy and exuberance of the songs, the underlying enjoyment and fun, the way the voices work together, the wit and story in the lyrics (and a bit of near filth and some naughty words).
It's one of those "play and lose yourself in the world for 40 minutes" jobs.
Seamlessly mixing 80s pop, high energy dance, post-punk, dreamy pop, and anything else that happens to fit, this is a collection of songs written and performed for fun - and the enjoyment is there for all to hear. What comes out is proof that "Chaise Longue" - which continues to dig itself into my head on each hearing and refuse to leave - was not a mere novelty but one piece of the jigsaw.
The aforementioned singles are present and correct, along with 7 more tracks which would be just as capable as single releases. "Being In Love", "Loving You", "Supermarket", and closer "Too Late Now" being the pick for me at the moment, but the other tracks are not far behind.
One can't help but wonder if it might be a case of too much too soon with this accomplished debut - time will tell. But for now: "Was it worth the wait?" Abso-bloomin-lutely.
Being In Love
Wet Dream
Loving You
Gary Crowley played them tonight on his show; I like 'em.
ReplyDeleteThe first two singles were catnip to me. After that, I've struggled with their subsequent releases. On the album, they fit together a bit better and I'm hoping the whole grows on me with repeated listens. Much as I might think I would have liked an entire album of Chaise Longue soundalikes, the reality is that that would probably have taken away the uniqueness of that debut. Or something.
ReplyDeleteI'll hopefully have more to say about my thoughts on this in the fullness of time. Rather than the rambling nonsense I just typed.