The Molotovs // Wasted On Youth
A debut that rocks hard and remembers how to have fun
★★★★☆ (4/5)
The Molotovs' debut album “Wasted On Youth” serves as a mission statement for a young band that has built a reputation for electric live shows, which channel a pantheon of British influences.
Siblings Mathew and Issey Cartlidge formed the band in 2020, spending the following years honing their live craft by solidifying their sound. Along this journey, they have played over 500 shows, including supporting genuinely iconic names such as Iggy Pop, The Libertines and The Sex Pistols. With their current musical influences and aesthetics pulling heavily from the mod revival movement the band deliver a refreshingly unapologetic rock record. Crucially, they manage to modernise their sound by broadening their influences to span across 90’s and 2000’s indie rock royalty.
The opening track “Get a Life” is appropriately direct, with a bouncing opening riff that propels the song forward at breakneck speed. Striking a defiant tone, the band build on their momentum, keeping the high octane thrills coming.
A real early highlight comes from “Daydreaming”, which evokes early Oasis B-sides with its kinetic chords and slice of life storytelling. The track serves as an early showing that the band have a wider repertoire than the expected 70’s/80’s influences.
Shifting decades again, “More More More” is a delightful cut of indie rock that could go on a 2000’s NME compilation CD. There is a real tone of Coventry indie rockers The Enemy. With its eclectic rock tones and irrepressible vibrancy, in another time this song would soundtrack an E4 coming-of-age series à la Skins or the Inbetweeners.
Grit is kicked up on “Come On Now”, as a heavy blues rock riff helps envelop psychedelic verses which open up into a euphoric chorus. This is followed by the band cooling off from the strong opening run of tracks with the acoustic driven ballads “Nothing Keeps Her Away” which helps add variety to their sound.
Across the album, Mathew’s vocals ring clear as a bell and blend warmly with Issey’s backing while they deliver the themes of optimism as an act of defiance. This is supported by a muscular rhythm section, grounded by playful basslines, which helps to make the mix feel decidedly warm. It can feel like there is a rawness lost somewhere in the album that doesn’t directly translate from the influences it embraces. However, tracks like “Newsflash” and “Rhythm of Yourself” return to the band's mod revival roots while also developing more declarative and disillusioned lyrics.
Title track “Wasted On Youth” kicks the album back into gear with a song that sprints through a steadily building crescendo that shows off the pedigree of Producer Jason Perry’s dynamics as layers are continually added. As the fuzz-laden solo plays into the chaotic outro, there is a palpable feeling of freedom. When recording the album, the band took steps to try to capture the vitality of their live sound by recreating as much of their live setup as possible. This can be heard throughout, as the songs evoke the lightning-in-a-bottle feeling of a live show.
Shining as a tightly written beacon of optimism, “Wasted on Youth” is a fantastic debut that shows how to reinvent the classic guitar-driven sound for modern times.
Review By: Sam McNaughton
