Get Wet is the début album by Chicago based electronic dance music group Krewella. The record sounds like an uncut version of their Play Hard EP, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if the label wouldn’t let them release a full LP, so they just held on to the songs only to release them a year later. Usually, even if the band wants to keep the exact same sound their new work always sounds slightly different and updated. In the case of Get Wet there is no noticeable difference. Nothing’s new in terms of sound or lyrics, which only seems to confirm my theory. Much like their previous work Get Wet is about partying and enjoying life while it lasts. By that they mean: drink and fuck, while you’re young. While this may sound beyond superficial, it’s an interesting and equally valid lifestyle or worldview. 

However accidental these existentialist tones may actually be, the musical influences from dub-step legend Sonny Moore aka Skrillex are more than obvious. Notably Krewella’s vocals on an already great track by Skrillex (Summit), made the song Breathe fantastic, almost an orgasm for the ears (eargasm?). That’s also how I found out about Krewella. Being a huge Skrillex fanatic, I have found that many try to imitate his unique style, but not many succeed. Even if Krewella’s sound isn’t exactly original and their lyrics are hardly profound, they still posses something indescribable, a spark that makes them somewhat unique. To me it’s probably the vocals and the upbeat melodies.

The album kicks off with Live for the Night which is a great party track, that sets the tone for the other thirteen tracks that follow. The song is immediately followed by what’s possibly my favorite track on the record We Go Down. Little touches like remixing and auto-tuning single words or sounds (by-by-by-bye), typical Skrillex bass drops and extreme distortions.
After a standard Krewella track, Come & Get it, comes one of the quieter, almost introspective songs with Enjoy the Ride. The song is also featured as an acoustic version at the end of the album. Once again, this song is about hedonism and enjoying life while it lasts. Personally, I think the lyrics perfectly capture the way this generation thinks, but actually, how people think in general.
We Are One is another filler, while Dancing with the Devil features vocals by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump and sick drums by Travis Barker (Blink-182, Transplants).
Alive from the Play Hard EP was included sans changes, which is a good thing, most of the time artists feel they need to “update” or touch-up their songs a little bit to make them more current. Usually that just leads to them ruining their own songs, which were already fine, so I’m glad they left it it untouched.
Pass the Love Around is a very picturesque, slightly melancholic song about the life after the party or more precisely the moment you realize the party is going to end. Since I mostly think in terms of movies, I thought of Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni, which seems to capture the same feeling.
Ring of Fire used to be one of my least favorite, but then after listening to the album multiple times I sort of warmed up to it. Same goes for Human, which I dismissed as shallow and badly written, but is now actually one of my most listened to. I like it because while most Krewella songs are about wild partying and sex, this one is vulnerable even though the line “I could use a hand sometimes” could be hiding a double meaning or maybe I just have a dirty mind.
Killin’ it is another song from the Play Hard EP, I like it, but it’s a bit repetitive after a while.
This is Not the End has a very positive, if simple, message: Live the moment, live now (“for today”). Even if bad things happen to you “this is not the end”. Take one step at the time, look back sometimes (“wait…”) and see the bigger picture.
The album’s last song, before the acoustic version of Enjoy the Ride is Lights & Thunder. I like this song right up until that useless rap bit, which kind of spoils it for me. This song should be the culmination of the album. Like the song says, we’ve been waiting for this moment: “Every second wanting more it’s a calm before the storm”. The song is called “lights & thunder”, could it be more obvious? When there’s lightnings and thunders it means there’s a storm, it means it rains, it means you get wet. It’s also a not-so-subtle metaphor for getting an orgasm, but sadly it doesn’t feel like a climatic track.

To sum up my thoughts on Get Wet I mostly enjoy this album. Yes, there are a couple fillers and tracks we’ve heard before. Yes, it sounds a lot like Skrillex and even the band’s logo design is reminiscent of the maestro’s iconic brand. At the end of the day though this is a very enjoyable, melodic and easy to listen to album that will get you pumped up, energized and positive. If music is also about feeling well, and music-therapy certainly seems to be working in that direction, Krewella do a fine job of making you feel somewhat carefree and careless for fifty-two minutes.

Rating after repeat listenings
(mostly on my iPod)
7 out of 10