Review

Wasted on Youth is the debut album by The Molotovs. Released on 30th Jan 2026. It has 11 songs and runs at just over 32 mins. That's just under 3 minutes per song, the perfect length for the sort of raucous energy contained within each one. The Molotovs are siblings Matt and Issey Cartlidge. On the album and for all the recent live shows they were joined by Noah Riley on drums. Despite their young age the pair have been gigging relentlessly up and down the country for a few years now, hard to believe when they are both under 20 years old. The songs are explosive. Straight out of the gate with ‘Get a Life’, 1 minute 53 of raw exuberance. There’s hints of the Fratellis, Costello Music era songs, Henrietta and Chelsea Dagger, shining though here, although it is rattled though at twice the speed. Daydreaming is well crafted lyrically. It's much slower but no less powerful. It has a fuller sound with some Hammond organ or electric piano in the chorus along with much more in terms of backing vocals. It sounds like there’s a little Noel Gallagher inspired guitar on here too. I love ‘More More More’, one of the 4 singles released from the album prior to its launch. It goes down really well live. Matthew's accent sounds most similar to Paul Weller on this one, which I think has caused a lot of the Jam comparisons, besides the obvious Mod stylings. This one definitely ends with a little riff that has echoes of the start of Oasis ‘Champagne Supernova’. The story telling, backed by some summer holiday vibes and some lovely backing vocals, on ‘Nothing Keeps Her Away’ is outstanding. I imagine it will be a big singalong favorite across the festival season. “Geraldine, how’ve you been this whole time?” For me Geraldine is the best song on the album. It's nostalgic and uplifting - it feels like it's saying -’everyone's trying to drag us down, let's both get out of here, now’. I love it. Closing out with a really positive upbeat number, ‘Today’s Going to Be Our Day’. It feels the kind of song that would play at the end of a film, where everything looks like it is going to turn ok ok in the end after all. A bit like the end of a chapter and looking forward to a bright new future. A great way to finish an album. Mathew Cartlidge, the band's lead singer, takes the writing credits for all the songs on the album. It’s all recorded at The Marshall Studios in Milton Keynes and released on UK label, Marshall Records. The album debuted at number 3 on the UK album charts.