“Is Your Mother Worried?” UK’s Wet Leg: Quirky Summer Hit “Chaise Longue” Leads to Fall’s “Wet Dream” Plus US Tour Dates

Wet Leg photo courtesy of Domino Records

“On the chaise longue, on the chaise longue, on the chaise longue
All day long, on the chaise longue
On the chaise longue, on the chaise longue, on the chaise longue
All day long, on the chaise longue”

So sings Rhian Teasdale with backup by Hester Chambers in the catchy chorus in the 2021 summer hit single in the catchy chorus; she actually sings “Chaise Longue” 47 times! Post-punk-pop duo Wet Leg wrote “Chaise Longue” in one go on an actual chaise lounge Hester Chambers inherited from her grandfather and where Rhian Teasdale sleeps when she’s visiting. The duo, who met in college where presumably they “got the big D” say that they wanted to experiment with words and sounds — to do something different — and “Chaise Longue” is the winning, somewhat surreal, somewhat tongue-in-cheek result. The song went viral over the summer, generating over three million downloads and 1.2 million views on YouTube. With some experience as a stylist for commercials, Rhian directed the video where she eats an apple in a rocking chair (on her mom’s front porch) while Hester hides from under a huge brimmed hat when she isn’t on a rocking horse or dancing maniacally (Rhian, she says put her up to it, as she thinks she’s a terrible dancer). 

The video’s style is “Cottagecore” which went mainstream with the Target  “Prairie Dress Challenge” (which I participated in; see photos here and scroll to the bottom for the latest idea– doing another Prairie Dress Challenge plus Dance video to the songs of Wet Leg!)

The lyrics of Chaise Longue, sung completely deadpan by Rhian “Excuse me” with the occasional “what” from Hester, and with harmony from the band, starts with “I went to school and I got the big D,” continues with “What are you doing sitting down? You should be horizontal now” and concludes with  

“Hey you, in the front row
Are you coming backstage after the show?
Because I’ve got a chaise longue in my dressing room
And a pack of warm beer that we can consume”

Domino Records says Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers decided to start Wet Leg while at the summit of a Ferris wheel in their native Isle of Wight. Rhian had been writing lyrics and Hester played guitar, and following the decision to form a band, Rhian learned how to play guitar herself. The name, they say, has no particular meaning; they just liked how the two words sounded and looked together. 

Their sophomore single is “Wet Dream” which is sure to continue their upward trajectory with another Cottage-Core surreal styled video which starts out again at Rhian’s mom’s house, then moves to a convertible followed by a hay field, and a dinner party where Rhian exclaims “I have f’kin lobster claws!” (Which of course isn’t part of the song but in the video if you can read lips!)  

“Wet Dream is a breakup song; it came about when one of my exes went through a stage of texting me after we’d broken up telling me that ‘he had a dream about me,” Teasdale says. 

This song sounds very fun and poppy but the actually rather dark lyrics include a reference to Vincent Gallo’s film “Buffalo 66 on DVD”. In Buffalo 66, Vincent Gallo’s character kidnaps Christina Ricci’s character. In the song, Rhian sings 

“I was in your wet dream
Driving in my car
What makes you think you’re good enough
To think about me when you’re touching yourself?”

“It’s enough, it’s enough, it’s enough, it’s enough, (To make a girl blush),” she practically wails as she flips the script by the conclusion, refusing to be the fantasy girl. 

You can find them on all the socials including instagram above, Tok Tok below, and twitter follows:

And yes, in addition to writing their own songs, they play their own instruments. 

As you can see, they play their own instruments…just not usually in their prairie dresses or wearing their lobster claws like they do in the video! 

On instagram, you’ll also finding videos of Rhian and Hester enjoying one of their favorite non-music activities–skateboard dancing! 

They are getting lots of recognition and press too:

and lots of airplay around the world, getting picked up by KCRW early on:

Wet Leg

The band is getting lots of attention…and when they come to the US in December, expect to hear more.

Above are tour dates in the US…and I have tickets for the Monday Dec 13 show in Los Angeles at the Echo!

Below dates are UK dates:

Wet Leg April 2022 UK tour dates

Still with me? Who wants to join me and the Daughters of Dada in in Ventura CA to make a Cottage-Core dance video to go with Chaise Longue?

Cottage-Core with the Daughters of Dada

In it, we will eat hot dogs, dance with my chaise lounge and old bathtub, and goof around in a nearby vineyard. There will likely be some whisky and wine tasting too. Wear your best Prairie Dress– I’ll have some extras. Kerchiefs are good too.

For a second video, we will likely head to the beach for BBQ and photo shoot.

If you’re in, email me, message me on twitter, and leave a comment below! 

Find more photos from our last adventure as well as the video to “Dancing Queen.”

PS If you liked this article, check out this one about Retail Slut and Helen O’Neill, pictured below.

And subscribe!