I never guessed I would be a fan of the band Wet Leg
A few weeks ago, I was checking out the artist's poster for this summer's Lollapalooza festival. Not at the top where the headliners are listed, but towards the bottom, where you need to increase the size of your screen to have the slightest chance in Hell of reading the names.
I was perusing them for two reasons: (1) to see if there was again that slightest chance in Hell that I would be familiar with any of them. (2) Maybe I'd find a band name I could tell jokes about for a future column about Lolla.
As for number one, nope, nothing. That was expected. It cemented my status as the old man looking up at the clouds. Part two was easier. When I found the band Wet Leg, I started laughing and snickering because I'm still a ten-year-old boy at heart. I assumed I could file this away until July. Again with that damn assume thing.
Then last week I ran across an article about the band. I laughed again because of that ten-year-old boy thing. But, I realized Wet Leg might be bigger and more popular than I would ever have guessed.
The next day I noticed they were scheduled to be the musical guests on the James Corden late-night show. Okay...okay...what's up with this? I figured if they're getting this much publicity, I should do some research to find out what the deal is with Wet Leg.
Wet Leg is a two-woman group from the Isle of Wight. Rhian Teasdale sings lead vocals and Hester Chambers plays lead guitar. The duo met while in college. They're back by a trio of session and touring musicians.
Last summer they released their first single, "Chaise Lounge" which had more than a million streams and video views. They followed up with their second single, "Wet Dream", (again with the ten-year-old boy laughter) to excellent reviews.
I also read that they play a form of the Americana music genre. If you aren't familiar with this, think The Band, Lucinda Williams, and The Avett Brothers. It's one of my favorite genres of music. It was time to check out the tunes of Wet Leg.
I went to YouTube and found ten of their performances. Some were from live shows on their recent tour, others were studio videos. None of them was anything close to the Americana genre (no idea how the reviewer came up with that) but it was pretty good.
The reason for the last four hundred words is Wet Leg will be dropping their first studio album today. Shockingly, I'm going to find some time today to check it out. I never would have dreamed I'd be doing this today a month ago. But, sometimes it pays to keep an open mind. You'll never know what you'll find.
And oh yeah....about that Lollapalooza poster. Here it is. Good luck trying to find Wet Leg.
Related Post: How do you know Lollapalooza is not for you?
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