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Wet Leg: Independent artists score chart hat-trick

Official Charts company Wet LegOfficial Charts company
Wet Leg is the brainchild of Rhian Teasdale (left) and Hester Chambers

Three independent artists - Wet Leg, Father John Misty and Jack White - have taken the top positions in the UK albums chart for the first time in more than 11 years.

Wet Leg, the much-hyped Isle of Wight indie duo, went in at number one on Friday with their eponymous debut.

They managed to outsell the rest of the top five combined in the process.

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers' guitar band are the fourth non-major label act to top the chart this year.

"We just want to say thanks to all of our fans that have bought the record, and that means we can be number one," the band said in a statement to the Official Charts Company on Friday.

Father John Misty's album, Chloe and the Next 21st Century - released by Bella Union - went in at number two this week, while Jack White's Fear Of The Dawn, put out on his own Third Man imprint, entered at number three.

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Official Charts Company boss Martin Talbot said the "indie treble" underlined "the independent sector's power in uncovering and developing talent".

Music Week's chart analyst Alan Jones noted it was only the third time this century that indie records - albums by non major-labels or their subsidiaries - had occupied all of the top three places in the chart.

"The first time, in 2011, saw two albums from Adele (21 and 19) and one from The Strokes (Angles) shutting out the majors, and the second instance happened just six weeks later," he told the charts company.

Wet Leg's album, released on Domino Records, continues a fine run of form for the smaller labels of late.

Central Cee's best-selling LP 23, Stereophonics' Oochya! and Don Broco's Amazing Things have previously reached the summit.

Earlier this week, the BPI - the recorded music trade body - announced a fourth consecutive year of growth for indie label market share.

Getty Images Wet Leg frontwoman Rhian TeasdaleGetty Images
Frontwoman Teasdale has said she started the band as a joke

Along with the likes of PinkPantheress and Mimi Webb, Wet leg have been one of the most talked-about acts of the year, impressing judges on the BBC Sound of 2022 panel.

"We just started it as a joke," Teasdale told the BBC's Ian Youngs in January. "And it's doing really well, and there's all this buzz and hype, which feels a bit strange."

Their first single, Chaise Longue, hit the sweet spot between being deeply cool and satisfyingly silly.

Inspired by Chambers' grandfather's furniture, it features a string of innuendos including a classic quote from 2004 film Mean Girls ("Is your muffin buttered? Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?").

That was followed up by Wet Dream, an equally enjoyable message to an ex-boyfriend, and their ear-wormy recent single, Angelica.