{"id":13500,"date":"2026-04-03T19:40:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=13500"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:40:37","slug":"grade-2-prove-theyre-all-grown-up-now-with-fourth-album-talk-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=13500","title":{"rendered":"Grade 2 prove they’re all grown up now with fourth album Talk About It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALBUM REVIEW: Grade 2 – Talk About It (Hellcat Records)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Street-punk trio Grade 2<\/strong> have come a long way since they formed as teenagers on the Isle Of Wight 12 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk About It<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Isle of Wight street-punk trio Grade 2. Pic by Christopher Bethell.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their self-titled 2023 album (reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>) saw them step up a level in terms of their songwriting, but Talk About It<\/em> digs deeper into love, loss, mental health, and the stresses and strains of growing up in public.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Grade 2 performing at The Lubber Fiend in Newcastle in 2023. Pic: Gary Welford.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There’s 11 blistering tracks, beginning with Cut Throat<\/em>, about personal perseverance. It’s followed by lead single Hanging On To You<\/em>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing In The Downpour,<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact depression can have on relationships is explored on the defiant Better Today<\/em>, and mental health is also the subject of title track Talk About It<\/em>, about how men don’t talk about the things that really matter to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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