Find out why Grade 2 are a ‘Grade A’ punk band you should be listening to…
Oi, it’s me again, your favourite recommender of music (there should definitely be a word for that).
I’m back again with a recommendation I’ve been sitting on for a while, but life, time and impending global doom kind of got in the way… so where I was going to hype their new track (which is now 4 months old), I’m now going to get you hyped for their inevitable upcoming album.
Grade 2 are a punk band with an old-school, almost “East Coast Street Punk” sound, singing about everyday problems and people they know. Similar in flavour to some of the godfathers of ‘street punk’; Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, and Roger Miret (although more akin to Roger Miret & The Disasters, than his better known Agnostic Front). Only with the twist that they, like all of my other recommendations so far, are British.
Hailing from the isolated wilderness of the Isle of Wight, you’d be excused for not having heard of this band, but they’ve toured all over the world, from Europe to the States, and even the Isle of Man… for some reason. They’ve also opened for some of my favourite acts; The Interrupters and Dropkick Murphys, just to name a few, no doubt endearing them into the hearts and minds of their punk peers. They then hooked a 2019 signing by Hellcat Records, producing the album Graveyard Island, an album that honours the tradition of its forebears by being a brisk 28 minutes long!
When it comes to their lyrics, they exude classic tropes of the genre, writing about their local haunts in tracks like Bowling Green Lane, as well as people they know such as in Johnny Aggro.
This traditional foundation is balanced out by their tackling of modern, pertinent themes. Singles like JSA and Reality Is Calling demonstrate they’re an act with their finger on the pulse of contemporary British society. Graveyard Island ends with my favourite song On The Radar, which confronts growing concerns about internet surveillance. The line “fuck you, get out of my life!” tells you everything you need to know.
Don’t you just love when a song perfectly conveys exactly what you were thinking?
My initial intention was to bring attention to their single release of Only Ones I Trust, but that was released months ago, so as I say, listen to them now and be in the loop for their next album!Now, I’m going to go and listen to Grade 2’s catalogue through again, for the third time today, I suggest you go do the same!
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