The Molotovs—The Molotovs

The Molotovs are siblings Mathew and Issey Cartlidge, and though this is their debut album, they've certainly not been short of live experience, having played over 600 gigs. A lot has been written about them, with continual comparisons to The Jam and mentions of other mod associated bands like The Small Faces and The Who. Other bands mentioned in the same breath include Oasis, The Libertines and The Fratellis, to name a few. But I think this says more about their influences than their destination, as I think they very much have a sound of their own.

There's no denying the vibrant energy on the opening track, "Get A Life". It's high energy, grabs you by the jugular and doesn't let go until the track is over. It's quite the introduction, and I couldn't help but get excited about the tracks yet to come.

If "Get A Life" grabs you by the jugular, "Daydreaming" loosens the grip a little, but the energy is still very much there. If you wanted to throw out comparisons to Oasis, you could, but this feels slightly more refined, slightly cleaner, without compromising on the overall sound, which is brash but still melodic.

"More More More" brings us firmly back to the band's own high energy territory. I think it's becoming clear that this is a young band with a big future. With a rapid fire vocal delivery, I couldn't help but think, wow, I can understand every word. Where this kind of pace and intensity can often result in gibberish, here you can fully get behind both the music and what's being sung.

By this point, the energy is becoming something of a trademark, so "Come On Now" comes as a welcome change of pace. It deviates a little from what's come before, but rather than taking you out of the experience, it adds another flavour, another card to the stack. I think this is the track where I fully appreciated Issey's vocals, which provide a nice contrast and, again, give them a sound of their own, rather than being derivative of the earlier-mentioned bands.

Issey's vocals aren't the only thing that help broaden the band's palette, and "Nothing Keeps Her Away" takes another turn. I'm sorry, but it was hard not to make the comparison to The Jam's "That's Entertainment", and it's almost like a tease, with much of that coming from the acoustic guitar riff. As the song unfolds, though, I get more Kinks vibes than The Jam, which I think has a lot to do with the backing vocals.

I do want to raise one thing, and it's not me being a prude, as I'm totally OK with the odd effing and jeffing, but this song does feature that infamous C-word. I'm not sure if it would have been more effective to replace it with something totally non-rhyming, making the same point while leaving the listener to make their own replacement. Maybe it's just me, but I'm sure there are still many people who hate the word. It doesn't detract from the song, but just appears like a slap in the face.

Leaving that particular lyrical choice aside, the title track, "Wasted On Youth", takes us somewhere else again. This time, there's more of a pop-punk feel, while the guitar solo has more of a rock edge. Again, rather than alienating it from the rest of the album, it just works. By now, it's becoming clear that The Molotovs aren't afraid of a little change of direction.

And that continues with "Geraldine". Songs that are built around a name can be a tough one to get right, and I can't help but feel the chorus is a little lazy, built around four lines that end in the same sound, two of them with the same one, the aforementioned Geraldine. It just feels a little too much, which is a shame, as I like the song overall, but I can't seem to get past the chorus. It's more than likely just a "me" thing. Mind you that didn't stop Simon and Garfunkel's "Cecelia" becoming a classic.

If "Geraldine" is one of the album's more restrained moments, "Newsflash" wastes no time in bringing the energy back. It's hard not to get caught up in the high energy the track delivers. I loved the bass break towards the end of the track, which is then broken by the drums. A cracking track, and one I'm sure would be a blast live.

"Rhythm of Yourself" shifts the emphasis again, and this time it was the band's mod/Britpop side that caught my attention. Mod revival is mentioned a lot with this band, but I couldn't help but be reminded of another moddish/Britpop band from the 90s, Ocean Colour Scene, who were a great band. I suppose the Britpop influence is more prevalent here, but the memory for me is clear.

Unfortunately, not every change of direction worked quite as well for me. "Popstar" was the only track that didn't quite sit with me. It sounds like it doesn't quite know what it is. Influences abound, and it seems to lack an identity of its own, feeling more like a pastiche of some other bygone track. Maybe I'm being a little too harsh, but for me it really stood out as one of those things that doesn't quite fit with the others.

Fortunately, "Popstar" proves to be the exception rather than the rule, and the album closes with "Today's Gonna Be Our Day", the song I discovered the band through via Instagram. It's pretty much more of the same of the cracking tracks that appeared before it, which sounds like a mundane thing to say, but it truly caps off an absolutely fantastic album.

I've seen many comparisons for The Molotovs, from The Jam to Oasis. While I can hear those influences, I think this stands very much on its own. Throughout the album, those influences are there, but they never completely define what the band is. They're standing on the shoulders of giants, but are in no way reliant on them.