Wet Leg have appeared to joke about Arctic Monkeys as they won two Brit awards tonight.
The indie rock duo, made up of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, have scooped up group of the year and best new artist at the O2 arena.
They are just second to Harry Styles – who has three wins of the night with best pop/R&B act, best artist and song of the year.
In their first speech of the night, Teasdale appeared to poke fun at Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner’s acceptance speech at the 2014 ceremony by quoting it.
She said: “That rock and roll, hey. That rock and roll, it just won’t go away. It might hibernate for time to time, then sink back into the swamp.”
Laughing, she then added: “But in seriousness thank you so much. This is so scary because being on the telly can be such a boys’ club thing” before thanking all the women involved in making their debut album.”
Nine years ago, Turner said: “That rock ’n’ roll, eh? That rock ’n’ roll, it just won’t go away. It might hibernate from time to time and sink back into the swamp.
“I think the cyclical nature of the universe in which it exists demands it adheres to some of its rules.”
Later in the night Teasdale also said, while accepting her second award: “Big shout out to Lava La Rue who creative-directed the show tonight.”
A person in the back-up band then said, off air, “f*** the Tories”.
Wet Leg’s success follows on from them winning two Grammys at the annual US awards show in Los Angeles – best alternative music performance and alternative music album – last week.
Long-time friends Teasdale and Chambers formed the band in 2019 and signed with Domino Recording Company, which has represented artists including Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and Hot Chip.
Their debut single Chaise Longue was released in June 2021 and racked up millions of streams, with their second, Wet Dream, enjoying similar success after release in September the same year.
Wet Leg were included on the BBC’s Sound Of 2022 list, but lost out to Bath-based dance-pop act Pink Pantheress.
April saw the highly-anticipated release of their self-titled album, which met with critical acclaim and reached number one in the charts.
They went on to wow crowds with a performance on the Park Stage at Glastonbury, which resulted in the area being temporarily closed off.
The BRITs Group of the Year is @wetlegband 🎵 #BRITs pic.twitter.com/JJPOFdT19a
— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) February 11, 2023
In July 2022, their track Angelica was included on former US president Barack Obama’s summer playlist alongside tunes by fellow Grammy-winners Beyonce and Styles.
The same day their album was announced as part of the 12-strong shortlist for the coveted Mercury Prize.
They said: “It’s been just over a year since our first gig and we are all still in shock at where this journey has taken us.”
They also recently supported Styles on his world tour.
In March, they are due to perform at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows.