Three years ago Wet Leg appeared on the scene with their debut that was featured at this place with benevolent words. I liked the way they how they performed songs with great hooks and cheeky guitars.
Last Friday they released their follow-up album and I asked myself if they whether they can reach the bar they have set themselves again. And yes, they did. Although they try to bring more variety into their songs, the album sounds well-rounded and doesn't get lost in the no man's land between glam-punk, bedroom pop and indie rock. Well done.
2022 was a year that changed almost everything. A megalomaniac autocrat started a war against Ukraine, the cost of living raised higher and higher and I see a lot of people not knowing how to pay the heating of their homes and their regular food. The medical system is closer to a meltdown before and we are also not willing to change into a climate-neutral future. So I used to ignore these bad news turning into listening to music.
The year is almost gone and like every year a lot of folks out there are going to a retrospective about this year in music. In my opinion it was a very good year in music. Many new bands appeared on the scene and also successful artists released new stuff. Looking back this year I didn't bought many physical copies and owned more digital copies than before. One reason is the price I have to pay for copies coming from Great Britain and the taxes are horrible because German dealers have to include the taxes into the final price.
So I am presenting a very subjective list of 22 albums that were released this year. Let's start with a few compilations.
Version Excursion released by Don Letts via Late Night Tales is a very own conglomeration of songs from the last decades many will know but not in a reggae-dub inspired versions. A compilation I always come back to.
Our good friend Drew introduced me to Flying Mojito Bros a California based band reworking the music of the early 70's in a very special way. I always had a fondness to Steely Dan but this version is a belter.
Fell From The Sun is a compilation built on the best of 1990 released songs and reworks. None of them is a mistake and brings back great moments in time.
Let's turn to the new albums of the year. Paul Osborne surprised me with his Project Gemini. The Children Of Scorpio is nothing more or less a homage to early 70's soundtracks with great wah-wah guitars and an accentuated bass drifting into a psychedelic space.
Fontaines D.C. returned with their third album Skinty Fia and came close to their debut. Just pure rock music with an immense energy.
Wet Leg was named as a hype this year because nearly every one talked about them. But their self titled album was nothing more or less one of the best indie-pop albums from this year.
Another band that will appear in many list this year is Yard Act with their debut The Overload. It might be a hype as well but they surprised me with a fresh guitar lead guitar lead sound that just makes fun.
I have to admit that I turned more and more to electronic music and sounds this year. So it is not surprising that the latest album Let's Emerge by Pye Corner Audio appears at this place. Martin Jenkins created one of the superbest drone albums this year.
The word hype is a relic from another era. Back then, in the 1990s, more guitars were probably sold than mobile phones. With each print edition of the NME magazine, a new "best band of all time" was proclaimed on the front page. This and beyond the Atlantic, Alternative Rock, Manchester Rave, Grunge, Brit-Pop and strumming indie-rock entered the charts. Mocking lads and nonconformist riot grrrls became role models, celebrities and fashion icons. Before the crash came, Tony Blair even celebrated the Champagne Supernova with a British premier. And today? In times of media irritation, the name Wet Leg is probably noted between two glass of beer with a shoulder twitch. Brilliant! But you don't have to know them. This were my thoughts when I listened to Wet Leg's self titled first album. I have to admit that I really liked their first single Chaise Longe that was one of last summers songs and I didn't expected anything from the album. But singer Rhian Teasdale and guitarist Hester Chambers from Isle of Wight were able to write more indie-rock songs high above the level you could expect. The music may sound like a best-of-indie rock of the past 30 years. But the way Wet Leg handles the challenges of our time is fueled by an unusually snotty attitude. All in all an album that makes fun at the time but I suggest less people will remember their names in a couple of years.
