The new Saturday Night Live UK edition is only two shows in, and already the sketch comedy has had two fantastic musical guests. The first was Wet Leg. Most recently, Wolf Alice, who has a slightly smaller following outside the UK than their Isle of Wight mates, brought an electric performance.
The first song was "White Horse," which begins with drummer Joel Amey doing a bit of a rap-sing before vocalist Ellie Rowsell takes over, leaning more toward pure alternative rock, though elements of the band's more shoegaze-y moments cannot be missed. The vocal harmonies are excellent and perfect for the backdrop of liquid sound.
The song itself is excellent, and will find fans outside of the UK, but the feel is certainly one that won't get tons of airplay in the musical culture of the United States, where bands have to be a certain fit to be played to the masses, other than in big cities, which have more diverse stations.
Wolf Alice shows off their versatility on Saturday Night Live UK
The tune is lovely and indie, but not heavy enough for most alt-rock fare, and definitely not poppy enough for top-40 stations. That isn't Wolf Alice's fault, but the fault of the American music industry overall.
"White Horse" is akin to the Boo Radleys' tracklist on Wake Up!, but then, the Boo Radleys were criminally overlooked in the US, too. The positive is that Wolf Alice still has plenty of time to carve out a well-deserved niche.
For the band's second song, they chose "Leaning Against the Wall." The tune offers a different look at the band with a more folk feel and one that shows off Rowswell's brilliant voice. One might wonder exactly how she will use the wonderful instrument in the future, as it provides an epic foundation that allows the band to have a lot of variety.
The laid-back song gives American fans a glimpse of the different sounds the band uses. This isn't straightforward rock at all and has a distinctive 1970s aura, but it entices a listener to explore more. That is how bands should approach which songs to choose in a setting like SNL. Don't just play hits; play tracks that make people want to check out the rest of the catalog.
Wolf Alce has plenty to choose from, too. The band has released four studio albums since 2015, all of which have reached No. 1 or 2 on the UK album charts. In the United States, no album has pushed past No. 90. American audiences should be ashamed.