ALBUM REVIEW: Grade 2 – Talk About It (Hellcat Records)
Street-punk trio Grade 2 have come a long way since they formed as teenagers on the Isle Of Wight 12 years ago.
Talk About It is the fourth studio album for bassist and frontman Sid Ryan, guitarist Jack Chatfield and drummer Jacob Hull, and it’s something of a coming of age for them.
Still in their 20s, the trio have come up with an album which chronicles everything the band has lived through to make it this far.
It explores love, loss, and the emotional toll of growing up in a band, all delivered in the uncompromising fashion we’ve come to expect from this most modern of street-punk bands.
Anyone who has seen their electrifying live shows will know it’s like watching lightning in a bottle being unleashed, with Sid and Jack trading places and lines as Jacob lays down a thunderous backbeat for their hook-filled songs.
Their self-titled 2023 album (reviewed here) saw them step up a level in terms of their songwriting, but Talk About It digs deeper into love, loss, mental health, and the stresses and strains of growing up in public.
There’s 11 blistering tracks, beginning with Cut Throat, about personal perseverance. It’s followed by lead single Hanging On To You, featuring Kevin Bivona from The Interrupters on Hammond organ, and that’s a catchy declaration of love and commitment which is as good as anything they’ve ever written.
Standing In The Downpour, which comes across like a catch-up between old friends, is about the band’s seaside town upbringing and finding your feet in early adulthood.
The impact depression can have on relationships is explored on the defiant Better Today, and mental health is also the subject of title track Talk About It, about how men don’t talk about the things that really matter to them.
Don’t Worry About Me is another song about being in charge of your own destiny, while Crash And Burn is about the comedown of returning home from the highs of touring.
Smugglers Haven is a nod to their Isle of Wight roots, and the island’s historic reputation as a major centre of illicit trade, while Rotten is a rant about the state of the country, and Wasteland bemoans the decline of their hometown Ryde (though I guess it could be about anytown, anywhere in the UK, frankly).
Finally, Otherside, about making it through all the crap that life throws at you, closes things out nicely, and is another contender for standout track on an album which hasn’t got a duff one. 8/10.
