The casual observer might have thought that Kalush Orchestra’s Eurovision win had set off a full-on Ukrainian rock invasion. For Isle Of Wight alt-rock sensation Wet Leg’s biggest London show to date, singer Rhian Teasdale skipped onstage beaming broadly in traditional Eastern European dress. That she was soon singing songs about alcoholism (Being In Love), masturbation (Wet Dream) and being too high to shop properly (Supermarket), though, suggested she’d already fully acclimatised to local Kentish Town culture.
Here was a prime – and somewhat prim – example of the clash of the wholesome and salacious that has made Wet Leg the indie rock breakout band of the decade so far. Teasdale, alongside her demure blonde sidekick Hester Chambers, has concocted a seductive cocktail of Gen Z’s insouciant, Tinder-deadened anguish, the early PJ Harvey’s forthright sexuality, South London’s angular attitude and The Cardigans’ butter-wouldn’t-melt melodies.
