Live Review: The Molotovs – Wasted On Youth Album Launch

4 February 2026 rocknews

Venue: Rough Trade, Nottingham – The Molotovs Rough Trade Nottingham live review

Following our recent 10/10 review of their debut album Wasted On Youth, the anticipation outside Rough Trade Nottingham felt less like a casual in-store and more like the start of something bigger. By the time I arrived, there were queues around the block — impressive for a Tuesday afternoon and a clear sign this band are gathering serious momentum.

We already knew the record was a modern classic — all punchy punk attitude and sharp-suited mod revival hooks — but seeing The Molotovs cram those anthems into a venue barely bigger than your front room? That’s the kind of chaos you show up early for.

And I mean early.

Rough Trade’s stage, If you’re not near the front, forget photos — you’re getting the back of someone’s Harrington jacket all afternoon. So I got there ahead of the rush and ended up chatting with frontman Matt Cartlidge.

Yes, it’s true. He’s 17.

Seventeen… and already working harder than bands twice his age.

The Molotovs have racked up over 600 gigs. Busking on Oxford Street as kids, pulling in £500 a day on sheer graft and the “cute kid” factor. Mum runs the merch. Mates help steer the ship. It’s not some label-manufactured fairytale — it’s a family-built, sleeves-rolled-up operation. Proper DIY. Proper earned.

And you can feel that work ethic in everything they do.

Fresh from Nottingham, they were heading straight to Birmingham HMV after this with barely time to breathe. Built for the road doesn’t even cover it — this band practically lives on it.

Small Room, Big Noise

By 2:30pm there was a buzz in the air. The crowd was a mixed bag of regulars, local fans and a few sharp-dressed mod lifers — the kind of people happy to sneak out for an afternoon gig midweek. Not just spectators either, but people who genuinely cared about the band.

From the first note, the room flipped from polite record-store chatter to focused, shoulder-to-shoulder attention, everyone locked in and hanging on every word.

The set was essentially Wasted On Youth front to back, with Matt and Issey joking they couldn’t even agree on what to leave out — so they pretty much didn’t. Fair problem to have when every track feels like a single.

Matt’s vocals — often compared to a young Paul Weller — carried a raw, restless grit that somehow felt even more personal in such tight quarters. No hiding behind production here. Every crack, every snarl, every ounce of conviction landed straight in your chest.

Meanwhile Issey’s bass lines were the melodic heartbeat of the whole thing, weaving through the chaos with effortless cool. Stripped back or full throttle, The Molotovs might just be the tightest young band in the UK right now.

Family Chaos (The Good Kind)

Halfway through, someone shouted something about sibling rivalry, which opened the door for a bit of classic Molotovs banter. Matt laughed about how people sometimes think he and Issey are a couple.

“As if I’d go out with that,” he joked, pointing across the stage.

Cue groans, laughs, and peak brother–sister energy.

It’s that looseness — that lack of polish between songs — that makes it work. At one point Matt admitted they should probably learn how to do the whole “talking between songs” thing properly.

Honestly? Don’t bother. The scrappy charm suits them.

Anthems in the Making

As the set barrelled toward the finish, it became obvious these songs are already bigger than the room. Even without huge singalongs, you could feel the connection — heads nodding, eyes fixed on the stage, every line landing harder in the tight space.

Closer Today’s Gonna Be Our Day sealed it. A modern-day anthem with perfect call-and-response hooks, the kind of song you just know will be screamed back twice as loud in bigger venues before long.

The sort of tune that follows you home whether you want it to or not.

The Verdict

If there was any lingering doubt that The Molotovs are the real deal, this show killed it stone dead.

They didn’t just launch an album — they proved why they’re becoming one of the most exciting voices for a new generation of British rock fans. Nottingham didn’t so much host the gig as surrender to it.

Vinyl copies of Wasted On Youth sold out almost instantly. The push for number one is on, and you get the feeling nothing’s slowing them down — not even a certain pop heavyweight standing in their way.

This is already my third time seeing them in Nottingham this year, and somehow they just keep getting sharper, louder, tighter.

If you haven’t caught them yet, fix that. Fast.

They’re back later in the year and supporting Yungblud in between — and venues aren’t staying this small for long. Oh and yet another UK headline tour.

Catch them next time they roll through town.

Trust me — you’ll want to say you were there before the rest of the world caught up.