Wet Leg (2022)

I'll grant you that the British indie scene isn't usually on my radar, but when this duo released this album earlier this year, the recommendations flooding my social media timelines were too great to ignore. So I streamed the thing, thinking like Roger Murtaugh, "I'm too old for this shit" and figured I'd make it through one, maybe two, tracks. Fast forward a half hour and I'm having a great time, I've hit the repeat button, plus the CD was ordered. I was so excited I even went to my own social media feeds on April 9 of this year and declared "We’re not even halfway through spring and I’m ready to declare the Wet Leg release the top-down-volume-up album of the summer."

And it turns out my statement was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy because the CD hasn't left my truck's player since April. I know nothing about the group and couldn't even tell you how many tracks are on the disc, but I can tell you that this thing is a perfect album to play loudly as you head to the car wash or venture out to pick up some tacos.

There's hooks a'plenty and the lyrics are consistently sophomoric, profane, and hilarious. By the time they sing "I went to school and I got the big D" and asking me if they should assign someone to butter my muffin or worry my mother, I'm laughing so loudly the people in the car next to mine at the stoplight think there's something wrong with me. And when they let loose with their "longest and loudest scream" I'm right there, too, openly venting my frustration and teenaged middle-aged angst.

Metacritic has it rated at 87, which currently places it as the #13 Best Album of 2022. Will I listen to it after Labor Day? Will I get it out again next year? Probably not, but it sure has been fun to have it along for the ride(s) this summer. The DIY attitude, raunchy lyrics, and irresistible minimalist punk-pop make me feel like young and that's probably the main reason I like the album - I listen to it and suddenly I'm a teenager again, riding around in the Markmobile with the windows down, stereo blaring, feeling indestructible, thinking about girls, ignoring adults, and not thinking about the future.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200 chart: #14
• Billboard Independent Albums: #3
• Billboard Top Alternative Albums: #3
• Billboard Top Rock Albums: #3

Tracks: Just discovered there are a dozen tracks on the album. As you can guess, I listen to the whole thing on repeat, but my preferred tracks are Being In Love, Chaise Longue, the raucous Angelica, Wet Dream (which got me to rewatch the movie Buffalo 66), Ur Mum, and Oh No.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above. I notice the band is in town at the Aztec Theatre next month. Not sure I'm feeling that young, but you never know.