Rock Vibrations Recommends: Molly Karloff

(the following is translated from the original article here)

Rock Vibrations Entrevista : Molly Karloff

(the following is translated from the original article here)

Rock-n-Review Interview

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Dancing for Money – Molly Karloff

Enjoy our hook-laden, deep garage rock grooves, taken from the debut EP, “Dancing for Money” https://open.spotify.com/album/5d3iZLDsJTv1zHq…

 

Interview – Simon Guilliard of Molly Karloff

The UK is vibrant with young and up and coming bands that are still being unheard by the general metal fan. Some of these bands deserve recognition for trying something different and having the ability to write songs that get you off your ass and mosh your ass off in your bedroom/venue or club. One such band is three-piece Molly Karloff from Oxford who like to infuse groove into their songs and have hit the scene with a bang and made people take notice. They are creating a vibe much further afield than Oxford and I inform you that this will not be the last you will have heard of Molly Karloff. Simon was all too happy to answer my questions and inform us all about what lies ahead for the band in 2019.

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We all live around Oxfordshire, and meet up in Witney to rehearse at least twice per week, with our local scene being in Oxford, especially down the Cowley Road.

How long have you been playing together as a band?

We started out in 2013, and originally recorded the EP in the spring of 2014 with the award-winning producer, Richard Aitken, at Cream Studios in London (before it got knocked down later that same year). There have been several changes of personnel and a bit of a hiatus, but Tom & Simon were in the original line-up, so the only change since then is the addition of Wojtek on drums.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Describing our music is something we’ve struggled with from the start. When someone asks you ‘what do you sound like?’ it’s hard to say. People expect to hear you describe your music as a mixture of this and that band, or a slightly different take on another band. We even struggled to pick three bands we thought you could hear influences of in our music! We went as far as polling all our friends and family asking them what they thought we sounded like, which didn’t help because the bands they named depended upon those that they listened to.

The one recurring comment was that there are a lot of hooks and grooves in our music, and that we sound very ‘raw’ and ‘in your face’, which we like; that’s what we wanted all along. I guess that’s what makes us unique: the way we sound. Try asking all your friends who they think we sound like and they’ll all probably come back with wildly different and bizarre band names!

Molly Karloff released their debut EP Dancing for Money in September. How does it feel to put all your blood sweat and tears and get an official recording out there?

I think the first feeling is relief. It’s finally out! This debut EP has been knocking around for 4 years, so that was the first reaction! Haha! But seriously, there’s a big sense of achievement, especially as we had a strict ‘quality control’ process in place with our songs: if we heard it elsewhere and wouldn’t buy it, it gets dumped. Maybe that’s harsh, but we don’t want fillers. Proud and gagging for the next release to get out there; it’s never going to end!

Where was the EP recorded and who mastered and produced it for you?

We recorded at Cream Studios in London (just off Hangar Lane, a few miles along the North Circular) before it got knocked down. It was an amazing place to record with one of the most awesome live rooms we’ve ever been in. We’ve worked with Richard Aitken before, so there’s an understanding and trust there. You want to know that your ‘baby’ isn’t going to turn out different to what you intended, and Richard gets us, and is fucking amazing at capturing what we’re about. He’s the one responsible for capturing ‘that sound’ so he had to master the EP too!

I imagine that you have already written new songs different from those of the EP. How would you say the sound compares to that of the debut EP?

There isn’t that much difference I don’t think. Maybe others will disagree when they hear the tunes, but to me, it’s still ‘us’. There’s still that stripped back, raw sound there with all of our songs, some are heavier, some are more poppy, some are more punk. There’s a lot of influences in the mix there, and they all come out at some point in some kind of twisted Molly Karloff way!

You are very active on the live front, from local pubs and clubs to playing Oktoberfest. What should we expect from a live show and what is the experience like playing in front of a crowd for the band?

We hope that our audiences always get smacked in the face with our music. ‘Full on’ is a comment that crops up regularly, along with requests for copies of our setlists! Haha! We had one guy telling us he felt like he’d just listened to a whole album (with one of our set lists in his hand) and loved every tune. That raw response from people, right at the end of a show is like gold dust; I want to bottle that shit! Haha! To be fair, the audience are as much a part of the show as we are; with that response to the energy and the energy they give back, it wouldn’t be half as much fun! In short, playing live is the biggest fucking buzz going, and no drugs are even necessary!

What are the lyrical themes of the songs from the EP? Is there a main lyricist?

I (Simon) write everything and the main theme is ‘shit that pisses me off’! Haha! If you’re a sexist misogynist, I’ve written about you. If you’ve experienced, or lived with someone with an addiction, I’ve written about it. Life can be shit; I’ve written about it. They’re not the most joyous lyrics; I know that, but maybe because they’re delivered with a hook and a bit of a groove, you won’t notice! Haha! I’m luring people into pondering deep shit without even realising, or maybe they do realise and I’m being played?! Who knows? I don’t like to get too specific, because I like people to interpret things for themselves; it can be very revealing!

How often is the band able to get together and rehearse in the studio?  Where do you get together and record?

We rehearse at least twice per week from 7pm(ish)-8pm(ish) until we get kicked out! We use Greenroom Studios in Witney which is by far the best fucking place in Oxfordshire for rehearsals! Richard Kibbey will love us now & hopefully give us a discount! Haha!

How are the songs constructed in the studio? Are there the main songwriters of songs that take care of everything or is Molly Karloff a band where all members contribute to the songs?

A friend once told me that creativity is a fascist dictatorship! As soon as I heard that, I laughed, more out of recognition than anything else. Songs tend to get arranged at rehearsals, but they’re pretty much written except for some ‘polish’ by the time I present my ‘offering’ to the band! Haha! There is democracy in this band though; I’m not precious about the songs. Sometimes a song doesn’t ‘fit’ and so it gets put aside. It doesn’t matter, because there’s plenty more in the pipeline. What matters is that it becomes a Molly Karloff song and we bond with it!

Being a three piece and having different musical influences within the band, is there sometimes a lot of negotiating in the studio or do you feel you are writing the music you want to for the band?

We just get on with it. There’s not really any ‘negotiation’ necessary; the fascist dictatorship works really well! Haha! Seriously though, we don’t have any problems with conflicts in style. There have been a couple of tunes I’ve brought along to rehearsal in the past, and unless everyone agrees, we move onto something else if everyone’s not 100% into it.

How hard has it been to juggle the touring side of things with the everyday jobs? Do you have plans to go on bigger tours and further afield in 2019?

Not that difficult with a bit of planning really. There’s a bit of sacrifice, as pretty much all musicians have to make, but nothing that’s insurmountable. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”, as they say! Bigger things are definitely planned, with the rest of the UK in our sights and beyond for 2019.

How hard is it for a band like Molly Karloff to survive in the current climate where bands have to tour non stop and sell merchandise in order to bring money back into the band?

Short answer? Very. The music isn’t enough. It doesn’t matter how good your music is, the rest is about marketing and getting your name out there, and then kicking arse every time you play so that word spreads and you build a following. All of that is a shit tonne of hard work. I guess bands are now having to do what record companies used to do.

Being from Oxford, are there any other bands from your local scene that you would recommend?

Well there’s the obvious, famous bands from Oxford that need no introduction. But on our circuit there are a few that we’ve played with, and one that I still want to see…

We’ve played a few times with Otto, and we’re now pretty good friends with them. My Diablo are good (the guys from former Mother Corona) and I really want to see The Overload but we keep missing them (usually because we’re gigging or rehearsing). There’s actually loads, but I can’t remember all their names right now and we’d be here all day! Haha! That’s how good ALL Oxford bands are!

A fun question to end this interview.  If you were a DJ and were allowed to bring 5 CDs to the party, what would they be?

• Pantera – Cowboys From Hell 
• Arctic Monkeys – AM
• Rage Against The Machine – Renegades
• Slayer – Reign In Blood
• Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger

Any last message for our readers here at Moshville Times?

We love you! Please buy our shit and come to our shows and we will love you even more! Oh, and please be sure to mosh at all opportunities! Haha!

Molly Karloff: official | facebook | fanlink

http://www.manchester.rocks/blog/annes-lists-2019

MOLLY KARLOFF – Dancing For Money (EP)
Down The Front Media
By Ann Estella

Who is MOLLY KARLOFF? People once asked the same question about Alice Cooper and more recently Greta Van Fleet, Audrey Horne and Florence Black. As it happened, none of them turned out to be shes and similarly, MOLLY KARLOFF follows in their footsteps as an all-male alt-rock/metal band from Oxfordshire, with a fashionable female pseudonym. The power trio dropped their debut 5-track EP entitled ‘Dancing For Money’ on 3rd September 2018, having recorded it four years ago at Cream Studios in London with Engineer/Producer Richard Aitken of Nimrod Sound.

After a bit of a hiatus, the band, which was originally called Conspiracy Of Ravens when it formed back in 2014, changed its name to MOLLY KARLOFF (allegedly in homage to the imaginary, belligerent daughter of Boris Karloff) and original members, singer-songwriter/guitarist Simon Guilliard and bassist Tomasz Dworczyk, came back energized and determined to give it a fresh crack of the whip, together with new drummer Wojtek Broda.

Guilliard’s lyrics are borne out of his rejection of a strict Jehovah’s Witness upbringing and all the tracks carry a socially charged message, defiantly sticking two fingers up at life’s flagrant injustices. Proceedings get underway with the record’s title track, which takes a dig at misogyny and sexual exploitation. Squealing heavy rock guitars slice their way through a riff-driven song, whose sleaze-soaked grooves mirror its lyrics, reflecting the seediness of the lap dancing business.

Second track ‘Out Of My Way’ imposes its mighty presence with wailing, grunge-fuelled guitar solos and dynamic hooks, in a throat-grabbing track about ridding yourself of the people who stand in your way and try to keep you down. A catchy, hard-hitting song about drugs, specifically ‘Cocaine’, is next in line for the MOLLY KARLOFF treatment, through a passionate, gritty vocal delivery reinforced by a pounding rhythm section. The bleak parting words “So you don’t like all the things I say… you know it won’t matter anyway”, paint a picture of the futility of trying to reason with somebody who’s been afflicted with addiction.

Penultimate track ‘Running Through Shadows’ opens with lyrics that remind me a little of G’n’R’s ‘Estranged’ every time I hear them; “So this isn’t the way you thought it would be…”

There’s a steady, hard rock edge inherent in this song that gives it a forceful bite and there’s a familiarity about it that makes me feel like I’ve heard this well-composed, face-melter before.

Assertive anti-religion track ‘Hocus Pocus’ brings the record to its roaring conclusion, with lyrics that don’t hold back; “Jesus is a lie that you say you’d die for, bigots of the world you’ve got your faith and your mind is closed.”

All in all, ‘Dancing For Money’ is a slickly produced, no-holds-barred debut from a band that has spontaneously clicked into place and erupted onto the scene with a sucker punch! Alice, Greta, Audrey and Florence all set a shining example, but now perhaps it’s Molly’s turn to dazzle as the belligerent, badass, Belle of the ball!

MOLLY KARLOFF will be kicking off the New Year with a show at London’s The Fiddler’s Elbow on 4th January 2019 and plan on recording more of their back catalogue of written material in 2019.

‘Dancing For Money’ is available on Spotify and most other streaming platforms.

You can watch the music video for ‘Dancing For Money’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGhUr7ey3Vs

Molly Karloff are:
Simon Guilliard – Vocals/Guitars
Tomasz Dworczyk – Bass
Wojtek Broda – Drums

Tracklisting:
Dancing For Money
Out Of My Way
Cocaine
Running Through Shadows
Hocus Pocus

Links:
https://mollykarloff.co.uk/music/
https://www.facebook.com/MollyKarloff/

Molly Karloff

‘Dancing For Money’
Hard Rock
Independent Release

Whilst the PR for Oxfordshire based Molly Karloff makes reference to their sound as being somewhere between Clutch, Alice In Chains and Rage Against The Machine, this five-track debut EP echoes several shades of Queens Of The Stone Age. Full of groove laden riffs, Molly Karloff’s big sound here drags the listener to the table, whether they want to be there or not. Bookended by the raucous ‘Dancing For Money‘ and ‘Hocus Pocus‘, this EP is a genuinely appetising release which should appeal to most hard rock fans. There are elements of grunge, of rock, of metal and of all round good hard rock and roll contained here but bursting to get out. After being put on hiatus and having only reformed after a chance meeting in a Maplins store (other electrical gadgetry stores may also be available), Molly Karloff have enough balls about them to crash through the barriers and make the rock world take notice. An interesting and totally enjoyable release.

POWERPOINTS: ➀ ➁ ➂ ➃ ➄ ➅ ➐

Paul Hutchings

Boris was thought to be lovely. Every Christmas sine 1940 he played Santa locally, he understood the nature of the business by never changing his name, signing “William Pratt AKA Boris Karloff”. He also knew what he was good at on screen and stuck to it; happily for him, what he was good at was a lot. And now his grandaughter is ripping it up on stage.

Not really! This is an Oxfordshire trio who use the name to make a talking point. This EP shows that the music can be too; they offer a sleazy sound, big basic riffs and bothersome backlines, but the melody in the middle of the title track is an arena pleaser and ‘Do You Wanna?’ doesn’t let you make your mind up, just runs past, grabs your hand and takes you for a night of neon lights and cheap cider. There has to be a sing-along anthem and ‘Do It Again’ shapes up for it, but it’s actually a breathless satin ‘n’ sputum ride through the underbelly.

Nothing taxing here, this is straight to the naughty centre: ballsy rock with some highe six-string solos from wonderfully named Simon Guilliard and melodies to remember for days. Supernaturalation? Super songs.

POWERPOINTS: ➀ ➁ ➂ ➃ ➄ ➅ ➆ ➇ ❾

Steve Swift

Planet Mosh – Molly Karloff – Supernaturalation: EP Review

 

Supernaturalation EP

CD:

Molly Karloff

Price:£4.95

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Reviewed by: Dennis Jarman

Rating:

 

5

On 1 April 2020

Last modified:1 April 2020

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Summary:

Good golly Molly, what a belter of an EP!

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Molly Karloff – Supernaturalation EP

Molly Karloff, a new band to me, another UK trio and thankfully recommended by Peter Noble from Noble PR, come across with the smart talking suss of Therapy and the melodic leanings of Ash, point proven by the tongue twisting title of their latest EP Supernaturalation.

Available now via Roulette Records, the Oxford/London based noisy gang open up with the brick heavy but catchy main riff of the title track. A melodically howled lead vocal from frontman Simon Gee got my attention immediately. It fueled up for the choruses and a tasty wah-wah guitar solo pinned down by the watertight rhythm section of Dan Podbery on bass guitar and Jowie Adkins on drums. ‘She Said’, the first single released from the EP is a laid back chugger peppered with bullish dynamics and more standout guitar work.

They seem to fit a helluva lot in the four minutes of ‘Do You Wanna?’ as a jabbing riff surges over a manic vocal with fast footed drumming leading to a full on headbanging outro. The heaviness factor is upped by ‘Do It Again’ as they bludgeon with some stunning stoner rock vibes. The EP seems to end way too soon with ‘The Other Side’. Curiously the main riff had me hooked by its similarity to ‘Life’s Been Good’ by Joe Walsh. It’s another barnstorming delivery as they make a right racket for a three piece as the grooves hypnotize all the way to the end. A real feel good end to a very impressive release.

Supernaturalation EP track listing :-

Supernaturalation.

She Said.

Do You Wanna?

Do It Again.

The Other Side.

Molly Karloff band line up :-

Simon Gee – Guitar/vocals.

Dan Podbery – Bass guitar.

Jowie Adkins – Drums.

 

 

Good golly Molly, what a belter of an EP!

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About Dennis Jarman

Full time downtrodden album/gig reviewer and part time rock God!

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Manchester Rocks – Molly Karloff – Supernaturalation: EP Review

The Oxfordshire Alt-Rock power trio Molly Karloff first caught my attention with the release of their stellar 2018 debut EP ‘Dancing For Money’, which put them firmly on the UK’s musical map as a riff-heavy force to be reckoned with.

With a fresh new lineup (which now includes Dan Podbery on bass and Jowie Adkins on drums), the band’s latest offering, ‘Supernaturalation’, comprises five hard-hitting songs that retain the fierce edge that first drew me to the distinctive Molly Karloff sound. The EP opens with the record’s dynamic title track, which is set alight by frontman Simon Guilliard’s intense vocals and contagious riffs. The groove-laden, ballsy Grunge-Rocker She Said (which was released as a single on 10th January) then swaggers onto the scene, wah-wah guitars blazing, at the mercy of a seriously catchy chorus.

Do You Wanna is a punchy, punky, attention-grabbing track in which the drums take centre stage, while penultimate song Do It Again is propelled by the kind of hooks and soaring vocals that make Molly Karloff stand out amongst the legions of Rock bands trying to make a name for themselves in today’s crowded market. Rounding off an anthemic record, no-nonsense closer The Other Side encapsulates the band’s noise-making mastery with stomping verses, whiplash solos and seismic basslines.

As Molly Karloff prepare for the launch of their debut album later in the year, they are steadily gathering an enviable momentum, and, with a UK tour about to hit the road and the announcement that they have been added to the lineup of Crazy Cowboy Festival 6 in June, my money says that nobody will be asking “Who the f**k is Molly Karloff?” by the time the year is out.

‘Supernaturalation’ was released on Friday 6th March through Roulette Media and distributed by Cargo.

Watch the official music video on for She Said here: https://youtu.be/mV0Z-KNUMy8

Track listing:

1. Supernaturalation

2. She Said

3. Do You Wanna?

4. Do It Again

5. The Other Side

Molly Karloff are:

Simon Guilliard – Vocals & Guitar

Dan Podbery – Bass

Jowie Adkins – Drums

Links:

https://www.mollykarloff.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/MollyKarloff/

https://twitter.com/MollyKarloff

https://www.instagram.com/mollykarloff/

The five-track ‘SUPERNATURALATION’ EP from Oxfordshire’s finest three-piece MOLLY KARLOFF follows hot on the heels of 2018’s ‘Dancing For Money’ and represents a step up for the band in both sonic and song-writing departments. Punchy Hard Rock is once again the of the day. ‘Do It Again’ is a guttural Hard Rock tune with hard-hitting riffs as is the title-track; it’s what Royal Blood might sound like if they wrote some good songs to go alongside their riffs. The infectious groove of ‘The Other Side’ or the intense, bluesy Hard Rock of ‘She Said’ come and go far too quickly, and before you’ve had the time to shout “we really an album from this lot” you get to the closing Hard Rock of ‘Do You Wanna’. Do Wanna hear more? Yes, I certainly do on the strength of this gem. (Mike Newdeck)

By Anne Estella

Like countless other bands who had their schedules disrupted by Coronavirus, the Oxfordshire-based Hard Rock trio Molly Karloff have weathered the storm to emerge with news of a highly anticipated debut album and tour plans for 2023. I spoke to frontman Simon Gee about the upcoming new record and discovered that working with complete bastards may actually be the best route to world domination!

[Anne] Your second EP Supernaturalation (the follow-up to the 2018 debut EP Dancing for Money) was released in March 2020 – what has the band been up to since then?

[Molly Karloff] Well, apart from being locked down and having to cancel our tour, we’ve been mainly writing tracks for the new album, then getting into the studio to actually record the thing. Oh, and we ran a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to help fund some of it!

[Anne] How were you and your plans affected by the pandemic and lockdown?

[Molly Karloff] I think it’s fair to say they were completely fucked up, haha! Without the pandemic, we’d have toured, played various cancelled festivals, recorded the album a good year earlier, and we’d have taken over the world by now, obviously! But we were or are in the same boat as every other band, apart from the taking over the world bit of course!

[Anne} How would you describe your distinctive sound to someone who’s never heard your music?

[Molly Karloff] Oh I hate this question, haha! It’s hard to put music into words, but I do have a penchant for big hooks and catchiness. That just seems to be what comes out of my brain, usually while stood in the shower with no way of writing down or recording my idea! I think it’s heavy-ish Rock, with big riffs and choruses. When I ask anyone else to describe us, nobody ever says the same thing, so make of that what you will!

[Anne] Last year saw the re-release of your brilliant single “She Said”, mixed by renowned producer Romesh Dodangoda. What was the reason for the re-release?

[Molly Karloff] Yeah, we did! There was a lot of talk as we came out of lockdown (and went back in and out) of how it was affecting the mental health of everyone. Some of us are lucky and have outside spaces we can use, just to get to some nature and chill, but if you’re in an inner-city apartment or flat, you’re kinda fucked in that respect really. Cabin fever doesn’t even come close – the isolation from friends and family had a massive negative affect that is still being felt now, I think.

So, re-releasing ‘She Said’ seemed like a glaringly obvious thing to do, just because of the subject matter of the song, about trying to get your shit together, burying how you feel inside and presenting a nice face to the world even though you wanna just scream and destroy shit! We had a chat with our local MIND charity and asked their advice and whether they’d be into backing our idea.

Luckily, they didn’t tell us to fuck off and loved the idea. So that’s what we did, and got our new label, Off Yer Rocka, to agree to donating all the royalties to MIND. It was amazing that Planet Rock decided to play the track on their main playlist for three weeks which would’ve been great for boosting the royalties, so kudos must go to the guys at Planet Rock too for helping out with our cause (whether that was deliberate or not).

[Anne] “Do It Again” which was another of the singles mixed by Romesh, was accompanied by an insane music video in which the band dressed up as medics in a hospital, where things went a little crazy! What’s the meaning behind the song and the video?

[Molly Karloff] Haha! Yeah, shooting that video was basically us fucking around with loads of medical equipment that a mate who is an orthopaedic consultant surgeon let us use. He also has a film studio, so we did it all there. The song is loosely about when things fuck up and just owning it and not regretting what you’ve done. Regret can eat you up, so just admit you’d do it the same way again, even if it does seem mental after the fact.

There are lots of things you can do that seem stupid afterwards, and hopefully you just laugh about it. That kind of led to the subject of the video, which as you say got a bit crazy as we started adding more and more inappropriate things to a medical environment such as the doob and the drill, etc.

[Anne] Spring 2023 will see the release of your debut 10-track album Breaking Out! What can you tell us about the album?

[Molly Karloff] Well, I think it’s fair to say that it’s fucking awesome! I’m only slightly biased though, haha!

A lot of it was written during lockdown, and I even recorded some of the demo vocals with Covid. It was just a manic writing-fest going on, we threw a lot of material away because it didn’t quite cut our “would you buy it’ filter, but we ended up with 23 tracks that we wanted to distil down to ten tracks with the intention of getting it all onto a single 12” vinyl record along with CDs.

We started recording with one guy, and we weren’t getting the results we were expecting. Cut a long story short, we ended up working with Mike Exeter who basically came in to rescue the project and bring some normality to proceedings.

He won’t mind me saying that he was a complete bastard, and kicked our arses the whole way through, in a good way, to raise the bar. He just didn’t accept any old crap! There’s no “that will do” with him. You realise why he won a Grammy for that Black Sabbath album, and with that in mind, you realise you should go with what he suggests even when you wanna kick against it; he always ended up being right which was obviously annoying, haha! He even helped with re-writing some of the material such as lyrics and other stuff, so he’s got a writing credit on the album too.

The album took around a year to complete just because of schedules, and our stuff being fitted in around Mike’s existing commitments. For example, Mike was brought in to work on the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games that Black Sabbath played and so work on the album had to be put to one side for a couple of weeks. It was stuff like that, but in the end it’s definitely all been worth it.

We’re planning to release the album on 10th March 2023 with a supporting tour following. The launch date kind of coincides with HRH Spring Break that we’re playing at which is kinda cool. We’ll call that our launch party, haha!

[Anne] What are the songs on the new album about?

[Molly Karloff] Ooh! Anything and everything! I guess there’s that recurring theme with my lyrics about social injustices, etc. The title track is about trying to “make it” in the entertainment industry and getting a bit long in the tooth with all the bullshit. ‘Black Flame’ tackles greed destroying the planet and everyone’s lives. ‘Higher Than The Sun’ highlights how women have to work twice as hard at the same things and still get nowhere even when they’re better, just by virtue of a lack of a penis! I guess you get the picture…

[Anne] What are some of your favourite lyrics off the new album and what do they mean to you personally?

[Molly Karloff] Wow, so we’re getting deep then?! Shit! Haha! I thought this was gonna be an easy interview?! Have you been talking to Mike Exeter?!

Okaaay! Well, that’s a tough one to be honest, because lyrically what I like best kind of depends on my mood. Erm, I think maybe ‘Ain’t Gonna Dance’ has the most personal meaning. “Self-esteem isn’t something you can clean” would probably be the line I’d pick. The song is about abusive controlling relationships and having witnessed that kind of behaviour first hand as a kid. The chorus then imagines, what if you went back to before that relationship started and it never happened? What if you never spoke to that person, or agreed to dance with them?

[Anne] Will you be releasing any of the tracks as singles prior to the album launch?

[Molly Karloff] This is still kind of in flux at the moment, but yes, there is a single release planned for the New Year. Currently, it looks like “You Don’t Know My Name” will be the first release, but that’s all I know for now.

[Anne] Where can we see you play in 2023?

[Molly Karloff] Well, we have a few dates already announced. As I mentioned, we’re playing HRH Spring Break in March, and we’re supporting a local Oxford band at their album launch party in February too. I guess the only thing I can say at the moment is the old “watch this space” when we announce more dates to support the album.

[Anne] What’s next for Molly Karloff?

[Molly Karloff] Come on! That’s obvious, isn’t it?! World domination of course! Hahaha! More of the same is the real answer, but with less of pandemic induced interruption!

REVIEW: MOLLY KARLOFF – BREAKING OUT (2023)

 

Published: October 9, 2023
Reading time: 1 min.

By Andy Thorley

Back in February 2020, I had the pleasure of reviewing Molly Karloff’s EP, and it was an absolute cracker. It was, I said, “A real cracker from a band to watch.” Fast forward to October 2023, and it’s finally time for them to unleash their full-length debut, “Breaking Out.”

One striking detail from the promotional pictures is Simon Gullliard, the band’s singer, sporting a Soundgarden shirt. It’s a fitting choice, encapsulating their music in a somewhat “not quite grunge, but I’m not sure what else to call it” way. The 90s and early 2000s rock influences are palpable, proudly displayed, but what’s undeniable is the skill and freshness that Molly Karloff brings to the table.

The album kicks off with “You Know My Name,” wasting no time with excess fat or flab. It hits you with a crunchy chorus that sets the tone for what’s to come. “In The Night” takes a darker and more unsettling turn, with haunting lyrics evoking “voices from the past.”

“Higher Than the Sun” introduces a thicker groove, reminiscent of Screaming Trees, and the hard rock solo in “Faceless” gives away their musical roots. “Cult Of Personality” isn’t a Living Colour cover, but it’s an absolute belter in its own right.

The title track itself not only lives up to the Queens of the Stone Age comparisons but also hints at the ultimate ambition. With lyrics like “This is the opportunity,” Molly Karloff clearly intends to seize it. “Black Flame” doesn’t shy away from comparisons to Alice in Chains, and honestly, no one here is upset about that.

“Automatic” brings forth another dark and heavy riff, while “Ain’t Gonna Dance” chugs along with an infectious energy. This is an album tailor-made for those who crave hooks that dig deep. The same can be said for “Broken Crown.”

In “Breaking Out,” Molly Karloff delivers a confident and classy debut record. It’s the album you always knew they had in them, a culmination of their journey so far. While I’m not always right in my musical assessments (as my early prediction about Muse attests), I have no doubt that Molly Karloff’s “Breaking Out” deserves to see them breaking through. It’s a testament to their skill, dedication, and unmistakable spirit.

Rating: 8.5/10