Famed for blistering live performances and exceptional musicianship, UK band Grade 2 bring no-frills classic punk to the modern era. Their self-titled album due on February 17th is a bone-crunching 35-minutes that agitates, intoxicates and liberates in equal measure.
Ahead of its release they share their new single “Midnight Ferry” out today, featuring slick guitar riffs and lively shout-along verses that lead into crisp vocal harmonies.
“This song is our story, a tale of a night out and the truth of growing up in a rural town,” the band explains. “Capturing the adventurous spirit, trying to escape any mundane responsibilities, if just for a night. Just know you’ll be brought straight back down to earth on that journey home.”
50 years after the genre turned the music world upside-down, UK based Grade 2 are bringing the raw power of old school punk to a new generation. United by a love of old-school punk, ska and oi, childhood friends Sid Ryan (vocals, bass), Jacob Hull (drums) and Jack Chatfield (guitar, vocals) formed the band at fourteen years old, honing their craft playing Clash and Jam covers before refining their own sound. Melding the near-mythical musical heritage of their native Isle of Wight with the humdrum reality of growing up in a tired seaside town, Grade 2 spit out blistering punk music laced with passion, angst, humor and despair.
After signing to Hellcat Records in 2018 – helmed by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong – they put out their second album ‘Graveyard Island’ in 2019. With the release of ‘Grade 2’ comes their most representative work yet; a thumping fifteen track tour-de-force melding the uncompromising ethos of punk with the howl of contemporary injustice, personal identity, and frustrations of Gen-Z youth, authentically told by three lads with punk coursing through their veins.
Grade 2 will be touring extensively this Spring, starting with a UK & Ireland headlining tour in March, directly followed by headlining European Tour with Death by Stereo and a support tour with Rancid this summer. Go check ’em out!
March 3, 2023 -Wakefield, Vortex Bar and Nightclub
March 4, 2023 – Newport, The Cab
March 5, 2023 – Stamford, Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge
March 6, 2023 – Norwich, The Waterfront Studio
March 7, 2023 – London, The Lexington
March 8, 2023 – Southampton, The Joiners
March 9, 2023 – Exeter, Cavern
March 10, 2023 – Bristol, The Louisiana
March 12, 2023 – Derby, The Hairy Dog
March 13, 2023 – Stafford, Redrum
March 14, 2023 – Newcastle, The Lubber Fiend
March 16, 2023 – Dublin, The Grand Social
March 17, 2023 – Belfast, Voodoo
March 18, 2023 – Glasgow’ Classic Grand
March 19, 2023 – Manchester, Star & Garter
EU Headlining Tour w/ Death by Stereo
March 23, 2023 – Antwerp, Kavka (Belgium)
March 24, 2023 – Tilburg, Little Devil (The Netherlands)
March 25, 2023 – Vechta, Gulfhaus (Germany)
March 26, 2023 – Drachten, Iduna (The Netherlands)
March 27, 2023 – Hamburg, Hafenklang (Germany)
March 28, 2023 – Berlin, Cassiopea (Germany)
March 29, 2023 – Regensburg, Tiki Beat (Germany)
March 30, 2023 – Dresden, Chemiefabrik (Germany)
March 31, 2023 – Posnan, Pod Minogą (Poland)
April 1, 2023 – Warsaw, VooDoo (Poland)
April 2, 2023 – Budapest, Instant (Hungary)
April 3, 2023 – Vienna, Arena (Austria)
April 4, 2023 – Milan, Barrio’s (Italy)
April 5, 2023 – Lucerne, Sedel (Switzerland)
April 6, 2023 – Dijon, Les Tanneries (France)
April 7, 2023 – Montreuil (Paris), La Pêche (France)
April 8, 2023 – Fontenay-le-compte, Espace Rene Casino (France)
EU/UK Tour Supporting Rancid
June 3, 2023 – Ljubljana, Media Center Cvetlicarna (Slovenia)
June 6, 2023 – Warsaw, Letnia Scena Progresji (Poland)
June 10, 2023 – Stockholm, Annexet (Sweden)
June 12, 2023 – Berlin, Columbiahalle (Germany)
June 13, 2023 – Wiesbaden, Schlachthof (Germany)
June 20, 2023 – London, Brixton O2 Academy (UK)
June 21, 2023 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse (UK)
Tickets available via band’s WEBSITE.https://grade2official.co.uk/
Need more Punk In Your Life?
Live Review: Yur Mum / Spleen, London Hope & Anchor, 6th Dec 2024
Songs like ‘What’s Behind The Sun’ and ‘Affected Kid’ are proof that Spleen are already masters of the quiet-loud dynamic that was (yes!) grunge’s hallmark
EP review: No Real Hero – ‘H’
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, ‘H’ is No Real Hero’s first release of new material since 2018. The band originally emerged in 2012 as a hard
Live review: Vive Le X-Mess 2024, London Water Rats, 4th Dec
Ah, the Vive Le Rock magazine X-Mess gig – it’s becoming a great tradition indeed. The Water Rats gets increasingly packed and sweaty tonight, and
Live review: Chubby And The Gang, London Hackney Moth Club, 3rd Dec 2024
Chubby and the Gang’s Charles ‘Chubby’ Manning Walker is – by his own admission – not a man of words. It matters little, because this
Album review: Hung Like Hanratty release ‘Welcome to the Future’
From Sutton in Ashfield, UK, Hung Like Hanratty are one of the most well-known, hilarious, fun punk bands around! They have played hundreds of gigs
Live review: Grade 2 / Pickled Dick / Everyone Lies at the Boileroom, Guildford 2/12/24
Marvellous Punk music made Monday night a fun night – Grade 2’s end-of-year tour is a must-see! First support are Southampton’s excellent SkatePunk band Everyone
Artist, illustrator, designer, author, creative thinker, low-brow weirdo, writer of prose and cake decorator. BA (Art History), GradDip (Humanities), BSc (Psychology).
Did you know that we are 100% DIY? We run our own game. No one dictates to us, and no one drives what we can or cannot put on our pages – and this is how we plan to continue!
