Wet Leg's Sophomore Album 'Moisturizer' is an Ingenious Rock Soundtrack for Hopeless Romantics Who Know Better: Album Review
- Abby Anderson
- Jul 8
- 3 min read
Stand-out tracks: "CPR" "pokemon" "pillowtalk"
Our favorites: "catch these fists" "pond song" "mangetout"
Release date: July 11, 2025
Label: Domino
For fans of: Wolf Alice, Royel Otis, Lorde
Wet Leg’s sophomore album moisturizer is exactly what you’d expect from the Isle of Wight band—a dazzlingly chaotic, emotionally feral, and sharply sarcastic collection of songs that manage to sound like both a breakup and a honeymoon at once. With rich, distorted rock instrumentals and a healthy dose of eye-roll-at-cupid humor, moisturizer is the soundtrack for hopeless romantics who know better.
The opening track, “CPR,” sets the tone with a sultry strangeness—sirens, countless nods to the “999” emergency number, and dazzlingly chaotic instrumentation that swirl together to sonically mimic the spiraling, thrilling panic of falling in love. It’s sexy, but in the same way heartburn after eating a really delicious cheeseburger might be sexy. Which is to say: you’re not sure if you’re loving it or losing oxygen.
Lead single “catch these fists” is a gloriously crunchy anti-love anthem with the most delicious of riffs and repulsive of love interests. Wet Leg’s signature blend of biting humor and sonic expertise is out in full force, clocking in with lines like “I just threw up in my mouth when he tried to ask me out." The track is a revolution against romantic expectations, and it sounds like it wants to crush anyone with a crush in its fist.
The sprinkled through the project, moisturizer has moments where the band softens, though never too much. “davina mccall,” “don’t speak,” and the heartbreakingly nostalgic “pokemon” lean into more traditional love song territory—but, of course, this is Wet Leg. Even the sincerity comes with a wink. “pokemon” shines a bit above the rest, letting the keyboard glisten for once amidst all the grit. The latter half of moisturizer keeps things softer, dipping into ‘80s-leaning soft rock textures. "pond song” is the epitome of Wet Leg's take on love, where distorted vocals and grinding guitar meet oddball romance. Comparisons to maniacal, perhaps even outwardly heartless characters like Beetlejuice and Bellatrix sound absurd—until they don’t. Whether the intention behind the repetition of “I’ve never been so deep in love!” is meant to come off as a mantra or a warning, it strikes the perfect balance of delightful and diabolical.
Then there’s “mangetout,” a delightfully passive-aggressive kiss-off to an ex with too many affirmations and not enough follow-through. The metaphor of magic beans post-love bomb is peak Wet Leg—childish and scathing all at once. And the last hurrah of bedlam in moisturizer comes in the form of “pillowtalk.” With the grungiest guitar of the record and increasingly insane one-liners, this one is razor-sharp, burning hot, and simultaneously scathing and intrigued in the face of intimacy.
And finally, as if worn out by its own feelings, the album winds down with “11:21. Stripping back the chaos to make space for lyrical vulnerability, finally offering bolder declarations of love without the sarcasm this one paces the way for the exhale of album closer, "u and me at home. Softening the roughest edges, moisturizer closes with a reminder that love, when it isn’t confusing or horrifying, can actually be kind of...nice?
Laughing in the face of the idea of even touching a sophomore slump, Wet Leg are reveling in their ever-strengthening identity in alt rock with moisturizer. It's dripping in rich instruments, subtly hilarious, emotionally conflicted, and ultimately kind of romantic in the most reluctant, eye-rolling, painfully honest way possible.
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