In a dingy little uni venue in the centre of Leeds, awaited a completely packed crowd of Yorkshiremen, beer-equipped, for an evening that would undoubtedly turn out to be “proper good”. Opening The Molotovs were the even younger Garage Flower. However, they still managed to summon leather-clad rock enjoyers of all ages to Leeds Beckett Student’s Union ahead of The Molotovs’ set. The atmosphere was at its peak when it was finally time for Issey and Mathew – barely crawling out of their teens – to take the stage.
Their fashion is what hits you first. The two bleached blondes clearly take some inspo from the 70s, with the younger looking like a member of Madness in his often smart, buttoned-up attire. His small sideburns might’ve been stolen from The Beatles however. Issey presents herself as the slightly cooler sister to Mathew, accessorising her fits with a pop of red wherever possible. In Leeds, she went for a bold blue look all the way up to the makeup, accentuating her expressions and sapping up all the crowd’s absolute attention.
The two jumped in with “Johnny Don’t be Scared”, letting Mathew take the wheel on vocals (and if visuals don’t convince you, his voice certainly will remind you of the likes of Madness). It’s no surprise they’re such a hit with the middle-aged geezers of the population; their sound is totally reminiscent of Britpop’s reigning era, back when English singers weren’t afraid to sound like they’re from the Isles and guitar riffs flew free.
While Mathew often puts the energy into singing and strumming, Issey is a master of stage presence: which is what you undoubtedly need in a rock band. Anyone that can flip their hair the appropriate amount of times while providing backing vocals and completely rocking out on stage would certainly satisfy even the most reserved of audiences.
The duo also performed their most popular songs off album Wasted On Youth. Though they’ve only been around a year and a bit, they’d already amassed up millions of streams across platforms, and that’s no fluke. Clearly the people want to hear chipper tunes like “Today’s Gonna Be Our Day”, “More More More” and “Rhythm Of Yourself”: all of which were adored by the Leeds crowd.
Though they’ve not been around that long, their ground-breaking debut and the reception at small local venues like these shows that The Molotovs are fulfilling a need in music right now. Rock lovers: you called, The Molotovs answered. And if their next album goes the same way, we’ll be watching them in bigger venues soon enough.
The Molotovs are on Instagram and all major streaming platforms.
