Wet - Don’t You

Kelly Zutrau knows a thing or two about heartbreak. Fronting Wet on their debut album ‘Don’t You’, she has a habit of piercing silence with cutting truths. She’ll dismiss hopeless chancers trying to string on to the dying embers of a relationship on ‘It’s All in Vain’, and ‘Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl’ is more a future-paving declaration than a simple refusal. These emotions are complex, but they’re delivered by Zutrau in a simple, straight-for-the-gut fashion.

‘Don’t You’ feels like a debut in the sense that it mimics the feeling of trying something for the first time. Whether it’s a first kiss or the new feeling of a heart shattering into pieces, Wet have you covered. Their sound hasn’t shifted one jot from early buzztastic first steps. The trio have stuck to a solid formula. Zutrau is always at the front, vocals stripped of effects. Guitarist Marty Sulkow is on hand with deadly, finely-constructed lines, while Joe Valle is thrashing his heart out on electronic drums that sound light as a feather.

At first, Wet live up to their name. They’re earnest, soft-hearted souls who wouldn’t hurt a fly, on initial glance. But burrowed deep within ‘Don’t You’ is a don’t-fuck-with-me mantra. Closer ‘These Days’ ends on a simple, cutting conclusion: “Today I am away from you, today time passed strangely.” Unflinchingly honest, Wet don’t specialise in happy endings, but they’re always telling a good story.