Wet Leg – CPR Review

An image is often all a band has. When the music fails to leave an impression, it is the relatability of image which comes through. A shame to see Wet Leg opt for the relatively generic tone of always online doomscrolling, though it is a subtle jab at the nature-loving sense they provided on their still ecstatic debut. For those chained to their desks, we live inextricably through the music and sounds of the modern-day. They are our window into the real world, and, at times, they touch on a tone or mood of the times which has remained underreported, unexplored, and otherwise ignored by the wider streams of consciousness. We should hope to hear this in CPR, the latest single from a group which, just two years ago, had packed out The Park Stage at Glastonbury Festival. Where did the time go? Whatever happened to Wet Leg? 

It is not as though this moodier tone doesn’t gel with Wet Leg, but it blurs with the rest of these tech-fearing, nostalgia-bait bands who are using the Elastica-like electronics and garish colour schemes as a fashionable statement. A hollow one, but one nonetheless. In a time of material worth, it feels rather reassuring to see those who made the “inside of me are two wolves” meme in steady work. That is the only explanation for the aesthetic choices Wet Leg are making, one which comes to life on CPR. If this is to sever their links to the washy, vague comments they were making with their debut release, then they have succeeded. But separating from the self-titled joys suggests there is something else in its place, a stronger sense of style, image, or impact. There is a better sound here on CPR than there was on lead single Catch These Fists, the latter song lacking the power or presence Wet Leg finds on CPR. A brief song, certainly, but one which captures the right mood.  

Short, punchy numbers are the aim for this Wet Leg record. Moisturizer may sound a bit lyrically aimless, but listen in closer. The unrequited love heard on CPR is a harsh shocker, a strong message which comes on so suddenly. Tightropes, terrible scenarios and the suggestion of terror, never breaking from it, come through on one of Wet Leg’s strongest tracks. Gone are the suggestive expressions, the lighter flourish, and in their place is a hectic exposure of unreturned emotional connections. Ghostly additions, the flow of electronic additions and heavy instrumentals are a clear success. Love is not a grand victory for everyone. For some, it is an emergency, something to counter at the earliest notice. Unreciprocated emotions are a concept heard out in music time and again, but Wet Leg brings on a welcome fury.  

Judge not the image of those scared of the internet, but listen well to their suggestion. Wet Leg receives not just a clean break from their former style but from the expectations they had as a band. CPR does what Catch These Fists did not, in that there is a message worth hearing, worth latching onto, present. Run for the hills, and love, returned or not, will find you. Some use love as an advantage in the arena of life, others will use it solely to figure out which bedside table looks better. Companionship is not the end of love, nor is it the start, if Wet Leg are to be believed. Listen in well. CPR may be a far drift from their summery-sounding debut, but it is this growth which will define the band, not their radio-friendly tones. Wet Leg engages a furiously fun new instrumental range with some deeper, clear-cut lyrics.