Live Review: The Molotovs – Electric Ballroom, London 23/10/2025
Last Thursday The Molotovs brought the lightning to a sold-out Electric Ballroom, marking the young band’s largest ever headline show with an energetic setlist of rock’n’roll fury.
Made up of sibling duo Mathew and Issey Cartlidge, aged only 17 and 19 respectively, The Molotovs’ youthful nature belies their vast experience: since 2020, they have played over 600 gigs together. In that time, they’ve graced the same stages as legendary acts such as Blondie, The Sex Pistols, The Libertines, Iggy Pop and The Damned, constructing a blazing live show and an electrifying stage presence in the process. The band have also received support from Green Day and Paul Weller – whose work with The Jam and The Style Council heavily influences The Molotovs’ sound and their Mod revival aesthetic. Amongst fans in Camden that night was in fact further musical royalty in James McCartney, songwriter and son of Beatle Paul McCartney.
Southend band Soaked set the tone with a blasting set from the three-piece. For only the first band to take to the stage that night, their ability to command the crowd with their rebellious punk energy was impressive. Large moshpits punctuated their hardest-hitting tracks, and frontman Brandon Frisby eagerly whipped the audience into a frenzy before jumping into the crowd himself. Next to the stage were The Sukis, featuring a retro vibe that would continue to characterise the evening. The Liverpudlian band treated the crowd to more rock’n’roll charm, and their alternative banger ‘Olivier’ was met with cheers from the growing crowd.
Speaking to Mat before the show, he remarked that the venue felt smaller from on stage. But as they emerged to riotous applause the ballroom felt vast as they launched into opener ‘Urbia’. I’d also asked him earlier what the chrome whistle around his neck was for. Dryly he responded, “you’ll have to wait and see”. As they cascaded into the blaring ‘Newsflash’, the first of many tracks from their upcoming album Wasted on Youth, the whistle came into play as an ear-splitting crowd-rouser. Shrieking across the dimly lit chamber, the crowd rapidly complied to their brutal instructor, pulsating with increasing intensity. Towards the front, teenagers jostled and bounded, moshing and crowdsurfing at will, whilst not far behind older punks and mods in their 50s, 60s and beyond jammed to the restless energy in the room. Transitioning dextrously from song to song, they showed the signs of a band seasoned far beyond their years.
Behind the bass Issey was a fierce, highly animated figure, strutting across stage and regularly striking dramatic poses to the crowd’s applause. Her softer vocals were the perfect counterweight to Mat’s shoutier tones, particularly noticeable on the powerful ‘Wasting My Time’. She sported a sparkling union jack dress with shoulder pads that would make Marc Bolan jealous, an homage to glam rock that later re-emerged in The Molotovs’ only cover of the night, a searing rendition of David Bowie’s 1974 classic ’Rebel Rebel’. Mat’s black Rickenbacker guitar reverberated with anger as he aggressively picked the song’s main riff with haste, and the eager audience sang back each line. Before launching into ‘Is There Any Hope’, Issey explained what the dress meant to her.
“I’m proud to wear this dress. Proud to sport this flag. Proud of our Britishness which is so integral to who we are. This is British identity. People gathered together for music and a legacy of British artistic history. We must reject cultural pessimism - reject division, intolerance and hate - and embrace togetherness in its wake.”
“We must keep on asking ourselves the question: 'Is There Any Hope?' We definitively think the answer is 'yes'.”
Defiance defines The Molotovs, as Mat later quips “Don’t let any fucker tell you what to do”, and “This one’s about Brexit and flagshaggers” before playing ‘Father Flag’. But along with punk-fuelled rage, Issey’s monologue highlighted that hope and optimism remain at the core of the young group’s ethos. Thundering into their next single ‘Rhythm Of Yourself’, this buoyant cheer took centre stage in the self-affirming anthem: “So go and dance to the rhythm of yourself / Do the best with the cards you’re dealt”. A third component in this Molotov cocktail is the band’s fondness for everyday eccentricity, itself a stalwart component of British rock from Blur and Pulp to The Kinks and The Beatles. On ‘My Metallic Wife’ these shades of oddity emerged over emphatic percussion by drummer Conor Monaghan, with Mat singing “There’s people like you and I, just struggling to get by / I hope they find their metallic wife”.
Selling out Camden’s famous Electric Ballroom without an album to your name is no mean feat, and as they approach the end of their set, Mat credited their audience as the reason they’re here. The trio relentlessly ended their set with five tracks from their upcoming album: ‘Wasted On Youth’, ‘More More More’, ‘Daydreaming’ and ‘Come On Now’ saw arms and arms catapulted through the air as Mat used his guitar’s kill switch to masterfully direct the crowd into an uproar, whilst Issey at one point resorts to authoritatively stomping across the stage with her bass behind her back, complete cacophony resonating across the ballroom. Closing anthem ‘Get a life’ saw the most chaotic, furious playing of the night (with Mat at one point falling over), before the band bid the crowd farewell.
Next Friday, ‘Rhythm Of Yourself’ will be released to the world, targeting a third straight UK physical number one single after the successes of ‘More More More’ and ‘Today’s Gonna Be Our Day’ in March and June respectively. All three tease the arrival of their debut album Wasted On Youth next January, consolidating their youthful energy and years of gig experience into one all-conquering 11-track LP. If their Camden performance was the lightning, then bring on the thunder.
Words by Taran Will
Photo by Derek D’Souza
