ALBUM REVIEW: The Molotovs – Wasted On Youth (Marshall Records)
Every so often a young band comes along who are so good that people think they must have had a leg up from well-connected music industry insiders.
The Molotovs, a London trio based around teenage siblings Mathew and Issey Cartlidge, are just such a band, creating a big buzz in the DIY music scene over the last couple of years.
Those keen to knock them down have been spreading gossip about their background and connections, and while those things may or not be true, who actually cares?
The acid test is whether they’re any good. Based on the 11 songs which make up debut album Wasted On Youth, the answer is yes. Very good.
It’s hard to believe Mathew is just 17 and Issey 19, but the story goes that they got into music in their early teens, inspired by their parents’ record collection (Buzzcocks, The Undertones, The Jam, The Specials, Madness, Elvis Costello, Dexys) before they started making music around 2020.
They’ve put in plenty of hard yards since, playing more than 600 gigs and winning new fans at every one with their energetic mod-influenced take on what modern punk rock should sound like.
With their sharp look, incendiary live shows and songs about growing up, standing out and fighting back, they’re like a throwback to the ’70s, but with a very modern, relevant twist.
The album kicks into life with Get A Life, a call to arms which clocks in at less than two minutes. Its energy and vigour take me back to when I first heard The Jam, and I’m hooked after one song. That’s how good The Molotovs are.
Mat is the main songwriter, and his influences are clear: a huge dollop of Paul Weller, a bit of Oasis here, a touch of Arctic Monkeys there. He’s no rip-off merchant though; he has a good sense of rhythm and melody, and his songs are uplifting and enervating.
Rhythm Of Yourself, the excellent latest single, is about record labels trying to mould the band, defiantly concluding “go and dance to the rhythm of yourself, go your best with the cards you’re dealt, I know it makes me happy for today.”
Daydreaming sounds like early Oasis, while debut single More More More possesses the same sort of spiky energy as noughties indie-rockers The Enemy, who I loved.
Come On Now is a hook-filled garage rocker, while the acoustic Nothing Keeps Her Away shows The Molotovs are no one-trick ponies; it reminds me of no less a classic than The Jam’s Liza Radley.
There’s more cocksure attitude on title track Wasted On Youth, but Geraldine (no relation to the Glasvegas tune of the same name) shows songwriting chops way beyond Mat’s tender years.
The jaunty Newsflash is Mat’s take on how hard is it to keep up with the rapidly-changing news cycle, “can’t you see the issue, how can I trust you?”, while Popstar is another sideswipe at the music industry, as he sings “I’d be sorted if I could be/Singing songs that were written for me”.
The best is left to last, with the effervescent Today’s Gonna Be Our Day, which would have been a smash hit in the days when guitar music ruled the airwaves.
It’s a super way to end an album which mixes mod, new wave, punk, indie and garage in a beautiful melting pot, and will already take some beating as album of the year. 9/10.
