Wet: Still Run review – indie-pop poise without purpose

Quirky indie-pop bands like Wet come a dime a dozen in Brooklyn. Not all get signed to powerhouse labels like Columbia Records. But here we are with Wet, a band who have stripped out most of the idiosyncrasies of their early work for a more groomed style that's almost impossible to gravitate towards.

That's because most songs on Still Run, the band's second album, are all poise without purpose. The twangy guitars, stiff piano chords and echoing drums are slickly produced, but the tracks just drift on by, never really begging for your full attention.

Wet's style lands somewhere between those of Cat Power and Rilo Kiley, although they've always sought to cut their sound with R&B influences. Lately could almost pass for a Jessie Ware cut, as the Englishwoman draws from similar corners of the canon, but Kelly Zutrau's voice lacks the power and presence of Ware's, meaning she can't inject the number with any sense of gravity.

The band try to liven things up a bit with 11 Hours, which has some interesting melodic structure – hear how Zutrau hits "ooooh" at the end of each line – before winding to a final-minute crescendo. It's not quite cutting loose, which the band would benefit from trying every once in a while, but it at least grabs the attention.