{"id":27784,"date":"2026-01-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=27784"},"modified":"2026-01-11T22:45:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:45:01","slug":"the-molotovs-garage-flower-lending-room-leeds-7th-january-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=27784","title":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Molotovs\/Garage Flower \u2013 Lending Room, Leeds \u2013 7th\u00a0January 2026\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What happens when you take two teenage siblings from the heart of London\u00a0town\u00a0with a rock n\u2019\u00a0roll dream\u00a0and something to say,\u00a0force feed them a diet of Sex Pistols sneer, The Jam\u2019s sharp\u00a0suss\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0heady dose of The Libertines?\u00a0The\u00a0Molotovs\u00a0are what happens.\u00a0Singer\/guitarist\u00a0Mathew and bassist Issey are just 17 and 19,\u00a0respectively\u00a0and have been making a name for themselves\u00a0the past 2 years,\u00a0gigging hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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With more than 500 shows under their belts, The\u00a0Molotovs\u00a0have put\u00a0in the\u00a0hard\u00a0work,\u00a0and it\u00a0seems to be\u00a0paying off.\u00a0Following support slots with\u00a0The\u00a0Sex\u00a0Pistols and Blondie,\u00a0a slew of high-energy anthemic singles that nod to the glory days of\u00a0\u201877\u00a0and\u00a0a debut album due\u00a0at the end of the month, their time is now\u2026.right\u00a0now.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First up tonight,\u00a0though,\u00a0are local lads Garage Flower, who have the task of warming up the growing crowd.\u00a0Presumably\u00a0named after The Stone Roses album of the same name, the\u00a0four-piece\u00a0band deliver a high-energy set of\u00a0guitar-driven, garage rock.\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0let the baggy jeans, the floppy\u00a0fringes and their youthful looks deceive you, these boys are no shoegazing indie pretenders.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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With gravelly lead\u00a0vocals, effect-ridden guitars and a tight rhythm section that gives a\u00a0funky\u00a0feel, Garage Flower have more in\u00a0common\u00a0sound-wise\u00a0with the\u00a0likes\u00a0of\u00a0Senseless\u00a0Things and Mega City 4 than their Manchester heroes. The angst and rawness of \u2018Jammy and\u2019\u00a0Garage\u00a0Flower\u2019 also remind me of Aussie rockers The Vines, so they have that grungy,\u00a0guitar rock thing going on,\u00a0which\u00a0is always a good thing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a high-energy, animated\u00a0set\u00a0and\u00a0plenty of crowd interaction from the singer, these\u00a0hometown\u00a0boys are worth checking out. Always make it in time for the support band.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\u00a0sold out tonight at this, the second date of a UK tour promoting the yet-to-be-released debut album \u2018Wasted\u00a0On\u00a0Youth\u2019, and The\u00a0Molotovs\u00a0are firing on all cylinders from the moment they hit the stage. Singer Mathew spits, snarls and bashes his Rickenbacker like the bastard offspring of Rotten\u00a0and Weller. Stage left, his sister Issey is a fervent ball of energy as she pulls off moves most\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0match, let alone whilst playing an instrument.\u00a0Behind\u00a0them, their latest drummer is a\u00a0blur of flailing arms and urgent beats.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a fistful of songs some will know and a set of\u00a0largely\u00a0unfamiliar\u00a0material, the band\u00a0must rely on raw energy and their ability to entertain to win over a\u00a0notoriously\u00a0hard-to-please\u00a0Leeds\u00a0crowd, and they pull it off with ease. Opener \u2018Urbia\u2019 and the following \u2018Newsflash\u2019 are unfamiliar,\u00a0yet sound\u00a0mighty. The\u00a0killer boy\/girl\u00a0\u201cwoah-woah\u2019s\u201d\u00a0add a\u00a0touch of\u00a0class\u00a0to the latter. Bowie\u2019s \u2018Suffragette City is up next, it sounds\u00a0great,\u00a0but\u00a0they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0really need it, their own material stands up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Johnny Don\u2019t Be Scared\u2019 and \u2018More\u00a0More\u00a0More\u2019 are modern,\u00a0mod-tinged\u00a0anthems\u00a0that carry some\u00a0clout\u00a0and staying power. \u2018Rhythm\u00a0Of Yourself\u2019 was one of the best tunes of\u00a0last\u00a0year, it\u00a0pogos\u00a0on a bouncy bass\u00a0line\u00a0and a\u00a0very\u00a0catchy chorus, it was bound to be a\u00a0live highlight.\u00a0Of the unfamiliar songs, \u2018Wasting My Time\u2019 is gloriously post-punk and \u2018No Time\u00a0To\u00a0Talk\u2019 sounds like early\u00a0Manics,\u00a0which\u00a0is no\u00a0bad thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chat is kept minimal, although we do get the odd quip from a seemingly nonchalant singer who does try to get a reaction from the crowd. Maybe tonight\u2019s demographic was a bit higher than the band are used to, and while the audience may have lacked some energy, the band certainly didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Between\u00a0Mat\u2019s raw, acerbic delivery, Issey\u2019s relentless\u00a0energy\u00a0and the drummer\u2019s Keith Moon-esque\u00a0power, the trio deliver a\u00a0faultless\u00a0set of a seasoned touring band. After an incendiary hour set,\u00a0they wrap things up with a\u00a0two-song\u00a0encore, including new single \u2018Get A Life\u2019, which was\u00a0probably my\u00a0highlight of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a way to start off the gigging this year.\u00a0For me,\u00a0the\u00a0Molotovs\u00a0are\u00a0the real deal\u00a0and the full package.\u00a0They\u00a0look\u00a0good, they sound\u00a0great\u00a0and\u00a0are an exciting and entertaining live band.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0hard to believe they are not even in their 20s yet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Wasted On Youth\u2019 is a highly anticipated debut album, and I believe you will not get the chance to see them in small venues like this for much longer. The Molotovs are the sound of youth and the world is theirs for the taking. This is just the beginning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Ben Hughes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What happens when you take two teenage siblings from the heart of London\u00a0town\u00a0with a rock n\u2019\u00a0roll dream\u00a0and something to say,\u00a0force feed them a diet of Sex Pistols sneer, The Jam\u2019s sharp\u00a0suss\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0heady dose of The Libertines?\u00a0The\u00a0Molotovs\u00a0are what happens.\u00a0Singer\/guitarist\u00a0Mathew and bassist Issey are just 17 and 19,\u00a0respectively\u00a0and have been making a name for themselves\u00a0the past 2 years,\u00a0gigging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[8987,1787,8988,1710,1681,1680,8986,1833,2052],"class_list":["post-27784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-review","tag-garage-flower","tag-its-a-revolution","tag-lending-room-leeds","tag-rpm-online","tag-rpmnews1","tag-rpmonline","tag-the-molotovs","tag-tourlife","tag-vinyl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27794,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27784\/revisions\/27794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}