There’s been a real resurgence in punk recently, and Grade 2 are right at the front of it. That much was obvious when they opened for Generation Sex getting on for three years ago, but “Talk About It” feels like the point where everything clicks into place. For the Isle of Wight trio of Sid Ryan, Jack Chatfield and Jacob Hull, this is a defining moment: twelve years on from first picking up instruments as schoolmates, they sound like a band who know exactly who they are and exactly what they want to say.
And, frankly, they’ve got plenty to say.
Because this record feels like the culmination of the last six weird, suffocating, frequently absurd years. From Covid onwards, the world has seemed determined to outdo itself in terms of nonsense, anger and division. Grade 2 don’t so much comment on that as throw it back in your face with riffs attached. The result is a record that is gloriously accessible, sharply melodic and absolutely seething.
“Cut Throat” opens with frustration writ large, all sharp elbows and clenched fists, and from there the album barely lets up. “Hanging Onto You” has some brilliant sloganeering at its core, but the organ line running through it shows Grade 2 are no lazy punk cliché. They know the history of this music, sure, but they also know how to stretch it and make it feel alive.
“Standing In The Downpour” lands with perfect timing, all the more so because Ryan’s howl of “listening to the rain pour down” feels less like a lyric and more like a shared experience. “Better Today” rides a bassline with a classic feel, but its hook is pure gold, the sort of thing that gives it a distinctly American-punk immediacy. Then the title track adds piano, of all things, and gives the whole thing a ragged rock’n’roll texture that makes it even stronger.
That’s the clever bit about “Talk About It”. Even when Grade 2 are furious, they never forget the song. “Don’t Worry About Me” contains the cutting line, “I joined the rat race and it didn’t work for me,” but wraps it in something so immediate and singalong-ready that it sticks first time. “Crash And Burn” gets extra marks for the cowbell alone, but the lead breaks are sensational too, while “Smugglers Haven” carries the same rhythmic swagger and feels rooted in where they’re from without ever sounding parochial.
By the time “Rotten” captures that small-town frustration of knowing you need to get out but somehow never quite leaving, Grade 2 have nailed the central tension of the whole album. Life is maddening, people are exhausting, the world makes less sense by the day, but there is still something worth clinging to. That comes through most clearly on “Wasteland”, where Ryan offers the faintest glimmer of hope with “I know I’m where I should be.”
And maybe that’s the point. We all know what brought us here. What matters is why “Talk About It” is so good. The answer is simple: because Grade 2 have made a punk record that is angry without being empty, catchy without losing its teeth, and smart enough to know that sometimes the best way to survive the mess is to turn it up louder.
RATING 8/10
