New DWARVES LP drops JUNE 5! Hello, are you paying attention? ‘The JENKEM’ album harkens back to the hard, fast sound of the ‘Blood, Guts & Pussy’ era DWARVES! Thirteen short, sharp bursts of madness, and one mid-tempo classic to rope in the masses. Look for an avalanche of cool live and animated videos and a slew of cool 7″s! Get them all signed at thedwarves.com
Well, we’re a few months into a new year, and there’s already been plenty of quality new music, but I think there’s a big contender for album of the year already, up step Isle Of Wight finest the brilliant Grade 2 with the excellent ‘Talk About It’
This 3 piece are going from strength to strength and just keep getting better with every album. Being well into over a decade of making music from the earlier Oi! And Street Punk influence Grade 2 are now fully cementing themselves as one of the UK’s finest melodic high-energy punk rockers.
Sid (Vocals/Bass), Jack (Guitar/Vocals) and Jacob (Drums) are certainly honing their craft, and since singing to legendary Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong label Hellcat Records a few albums ago, they just keep stepping it up a notch. I could give lots more superlatives, but let’s get down to it, the new album.
First up we get one of the singles ahead of the release and it’s a banger ‘Cut Throat’ starts with guitar feedback and you immediately sense this is going to be aggressive and in your face and that it is, a opening guitar lick that will be stuck in your head and a brilliant and prominent bass line throughout that Matt Freeman would be proud of. This sounds huge and brilliantly produced, these boys aren’t messing about here with the message being even in this Cut Throat world, Grade 2 are here to stay.
Next up, we have the insanely catchy ‘Hanging On To You’ which showcases both Jack and Sid exchanging vocals on the verses, and with a chorus, I dare you to try not to sing along to.
‘Standing In The Downpour’ will surely have audiences bouncing up and down on the band’s current UK and European tour. I’ve had a smile on my face every time I’ve heard it, it took a few listens to notice, but when the chorus kicks in, I’m sure fans of The Clash will also have that same grin as well.
‘Better Today’ is up next and has a great message for anyone who’s struggling in this world, be it with mental health or loneliness. Speak to people, you are not alone, this is euphoric stuff.
Title track ‘Talk About It’ comes in close to the halfway mark and is my personal highlight, with a brilliant opening riff that bursts into a “Nah Nah Nah” right out of the Lars Frederiksen playbook, with the surprise of piano playing throughout, this 2:37 song will have everyone pogoing around the room, no doubt about it.
‘Don’t Worry About Me’ lyrically is brilliant and is a middle finger to the naysayers and people who try to push in certain directions. “I mean everything I say, I’m doing it my way, I never need anyone to validate me, so don’t worry about me”.
We’re getting deep into the album now and the next three songs “Crash And Burn”, “Smugglers Haven” and “Rotten” show off how tight this band have become, Jacob the man with the sticks keeps the pace up throughout and Sid’s bass-lines are right up front in the mix and of course there’s some monster riffs in here from Jack and some great vocal exchanges, this is like going back to the Rancid classic 2000 album and that’s a big compliment.
And to finish this superb album, we get a double salvo of the dark, brooding atmosphere of ‘Wasteland’, which tackles the dying towns and cities of the UK, whether it’s the Isle of Wight or the country in general, it’s very apt. The writing is on the wall indeed. This is followed by the light at the end of the tunnel, the excellent ‘Otherside’, which is a song full of hope and looking forward, not backwards, overcoming difficulties. Grade 2 have made it through to the other side and is exactly where they should be!!!!
There we have it, ladies and Gentlemen, 11 songs, 25 minutes, and we have one of the albums of the year with Grade2 and ‘Talk About It’. Once this album is in your head, it will be on repeat. Catch them on their current tour and buy yourself a copy, it’s an absolute banger.
Buy Here
Author: Christian Davies
The Digressions may well be on hiatus, The Role Models done and dusted, and The Loyalties a distant memory, but our favourite Canadian-born singer/songwriter who resides on this side of the pond is far from done with rock n’ roll.
Yes, Rich Ragany (Rags to those in the know) has roped in his friend and former Hanoi Rocks/current Michael Monroe bassist Sami Yaffa for a new project. Bringing along longtime drummer Simon Maxwell for the ride, they retreated to Sami’s studio in Spain to bash out a few tunes Rags had on the back burner. Something clicked, the stars aligned, and before you know it, they had an album in the bag, and The Sideshows were born.
Fast forward to 2026, and the power pop trio unleash their debut, self-titled album on an unsuspecting world.
If you are at all familiar with Rich’s past work, then you’ll be pleased to know The Sideshows don’t stray too far from that musical path. Opener and first single ‘Brand New’ feels like a statement of intent from the off. A low-slung, high-energy rocker full of Stiv Bators attitude and 70’s garage rock power. With hooks aplenty, killer vocals and pumping bass driving a song that delivers on all levels, it’s a fine start.
The sound of Rich’s influences is all over this album. The Replacements, Tom Petty and Johnny Thunders all come to mind, and that ain’t a bad place to be in my book. In fact, I’m sure Paul Westerberg would be proud to have written ‘Not Sorry’. Tribal beats and sloppy guitars build to an almost apprehensive verse onto a chorus with a hook you just don’t expect. It’s a great song.
The punkier ‘Our Love In The Shadows’ follows a familiar path, with a feel-good chorus that creates euphoria on first listen and demands the repeat button. A strong song for sure. ‘Rock n Roll Owes Me An Apology’ rounds off Side One nicely, rocking the fuck out with nice ringing guitars and no apologies.
Dropping the virtual needle on Side Two, we have ‘Say Goodbye On A Night Like This’. That may sound like a Bryan Adams song title, but it’s actually a power pop gem of a song. Urgent beats and a killer chorus are the order of the day, and The Sideshows keep the interest high, delivering heartfelt, anthemic and melodic in equal measures. I feel a theme going on with this band. Are you on board yet?
The flipside of the debut single is the more reflective and introspective ‘The Start’, a song that hits in the feels and is up there with the best of Rich’s discography. As with the following ‘This Could Be Everything’, the band create an early Hanoi vibe, emotive and haunting yet with added Billy Idol sneer thrown in for good measure.
The production, handled by Messrs Ragany & Yaffa, gives a very raw, live in the studio feel which lends itself well, especially to the rockers, like album closer ‘We’re Such A Shame’, an in yer face delivery which is surely gonna be a blast to witness live.
Whether it’s with one of his many past bands or as a solo artist, Rich Ragany has always impressed with his ability to deliver heartfelt songs that are uplifting, introspective and will simply brighten your day. ‘The Sideshows’ is another of those albums that delivers, and with the added attraction of the legendary Sami Yaffa on bass duties, it may open this troubadour’s songwriting talents to a whole new audience of fans that love real music played by real musicians who still have a story to tell and a song to share.
Here’s hoping this is the start of a band with an illustrious career, as this self-titled debut is a bit of a banger.
Digital Link Here
Author: Ben Hughes
Los Angeles, California’s J MAU & THE KISS OFF emerge from what they lovingly call their “beloved hellhole” with their debut single “Poison,” out March 25. Founded in 2025 by Justin “J Mau” Maurer, longtime punk lifer and founder of Clorox Girls, Suspect Parts, L.A. Drugz, and Maniac, the project finds Maurer turning toward something darker and dustier without losing the bite that’s always defined him. “Poison” is a cinematic honky tonk murder ballad filtered through decades of West Coast punk history. It’s the first glimpse of a songwriter who’s always followed the feeling, even when it led somewhere uncomfortable.
Maurer’s story isn’t mythology. It’s messy and real. A CODA raised between Los Angeles and Bainbridge Island by a single Deaf mother, American Sign Language was his first language. Punk became his second. After surviving a turbulent childhood and helping put his abusive father in jail as a teenager, Maurer found autonomy in the underground. By fifteen he was booking shows and touring. By twenty he was releasing records and circling the globe with Clorox Girls. Along the way he built a parallel career as one of the country’s most respected ASL interpreters, working alongside prominent political figures like Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden, stage interpreting for punk legends like Alice Bag and The Avengers, interpreting Deaf actor Troy Kotsur’s historic 2022 Academy Award acceptance speech, and appearing with Kotsur on Curb Your Enthusiasm. His life has always moved between worlds.
After stints living in Madrid, London, and Baja California, and in the wake of a divorce that leveled him, Maurer found himself flat on his back in an East Hollywood apartment, cowboy boots still on, old country records spinning. Hank Williams. Buck Owens. Merle Haggard. Gram Parsons. Kris Kristofferson. Townes Van Zandt. He finally understood it. “Real country music is poetry,” Maurer says. “It’s about failure, heartbreak, and the tragic human condition. Music to laugh and cry and live and die by.” That rock-bottom clarity led him to write “Poison.”
Recorded at Savannah Studios in Boyle Heights with Ignacio “Iggy” Gonzalez and backed by Patrick “Butterworth” Vasquez and Kevin “Quake” Milner, the track moves like a slow-burning reckoning. Acoustic strum, restrained rhythm, and a haunted vocal that feels equal parts confession and warning. From his window in Pico Union, Maurer could hear children playing at the elementary school across the street. Listening to old country compilations full of doomed protagonists, he imagined himself as a man on the run whose days were numbered, watching that schoolyard and knowing he might never see it again. That’s where the line came from: “When will you see the children play / You never will again.” The refrain doesn’t comfort you. It circles back like a hard truth you can’t shake: “It’s got a way / That poison’s got a way / It’s got a say / It’s got the final say.”
The single arrives with an 8mm-shot video co-directed by Maurer’s former MANIAC bandmate Zache Davis and Marta Ribate Gracia-Davis. Grainy, sun-bleached, and edited with a careful hand, it plays like a spaghetti western fever dream, a corrido where the protagonist must confront how he’ll be remembered before the end comes calling. The artwork, designed by longtime collaborator Matthew “Snake” Davis, leans into vintage flash tattoo skulls and silent-film menace.
J MAU & THE KISS OFF Online
DEAD PIONEERS ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘WAGON BURNER’ TO BE RELEASED JUNE 26TH VIA HASSLE RECORDS
PRE-ORDER HERE
NOW CONFIRMED TO PLAY THEIR FIRST UK FESTIVAL APPEARANCE AT 2000 TREES IN JULY
“No kings, No masters / Kick against fascist bastards”
Following their packed-out first EU and UK headline tour last month, Dead Pioneers, the Indigenous fronted band from Denver, are now preparing to unleash their third album ‘Wagon Burner’, set for release June 26th via Hassle Records.
Succeeding the album’s first statement with the initial single ‘Nazi Teeth’, a powerful attack on the upsurge of the far right and white supremacists, Dead Pioneers are back with a second single ‘No Kings’, which delivers an equally powerful punch to right-wing politics.
“Last summer, there were protests all over the United States called ‘No Kings’, in opposition of the current administration, the policies they’ve been implementing, and the rights they’ve been taking away from citizens,” explains frontman Gregg Deal. “While the issues are obvious, it’s important that we all say it out loud. It’s important that we show up and make our opinions known, that we won’t allow our inherent rights to be trampled upon for the benefit of the Epstein Class.
“Not unlike ‘Nazi Teeth’, ‘No Kings’ is meant to bring the points home,” he continues. “ICE, rights being taken away, mass shootings, greed over life, demonising immigrants, black, brown and queer people, widened economic gaps by the Epstein class, and the sincere frustration Americans feel over this. While this is happening, we realise that the right-wing politics coming out of the United States is emboldening conservative right-wing politics all over the world. We are against dictators, authoritarian regimes, Nazis, fascism or any other power structure, political, social or otherwise that seeks to take away the rights, freedoms or lives of human beings trying to live their lives. To that, we keep it simple: NO KINGS.”
Dead Pioneers is rooted in a 2020 piece called The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy, a deeply personal work that dealt with Deal’s upbringing. Following an embryonic performance of the piece, Deal secured a grant to expand it to include music created especially for the work. “The idea was to mix spoken word with punk music,” explains Deal, who hooked up with drummer Shane Zweygardt and guitarist Joshua Rivers during lockdown and began kicking the concept around.
A miraculous, natural chemistry made this supposed one-off project an actual band almost as soon as they cut what became their 2023 eponymous debut album (“We approached it like I approach my visual art: execute quickly, first thought is best thought,” Deal says), but they didn’t necessarily take it seriously until, unexpectedly, the outside world did. “I was like, we’ve made this record – what should I do with it? Put it online?” Deal remembers. The response was vigorously positive, and soon came demands to commit this noise to vinyl. A first thousand-copy pressing sold out in minutes. “So, then we pressed another thousand,” he adds, still marvelling at it all. “And then they were gone, too.”
What followed was “a series of strange accidents” that led to the group signing to Hassle, befriending Jello Biafra and touring with kindred spirits like Pennywise, Propaghandi, and even Pearl Jam. “Punk-rock had made everything seem so accessible when I was a kid,” says Deal. “Like, simply having the balls to get up on stage and stage dive and then be carried off by people that become your best friends once they get your feet back on the ground.” Now, punk-rock was reaching out its hands to Dead Pioneers and pulling them onto larger and larger stages. The group returned that favour by simply getting better and better: their second album, 2025’s PO$T AMERICAN, was sharper, angrier, funnier than the debut, a riot riveted with punch-a-Nazi thrills.
And now, Wagon Burner, their fearsome third album. Described by Deal as “more collaborative”, it’s a heavier, harder but also more accessible set, vicious hooks scattered among the punk-rock melee and guest appearances by kindred spirits Cheap Perfume (on the righteous ‘Nazi Teeth’), The Interrupters (on the shout-a-long anthem ‘Never Alone’) and, bringing it back to the group’s beginnings, Sleaford Mods (on the searing slow-burn of ‘The Worst Among Us’). The world might be darkening by the day, but Dead Pioneers are rising to that miserable occasion, casting their empowering light into the gloom.
Pre-order ‘Wagon Burner’ HERE
Co-produced by Dead Pioneers and Chris Beeble.
Recorded at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Dead Pioneers are:
Gregg Deal – vocals
Josh Rivera – guitar
Abe Brennan – guitar
Lee Tesche – bass
Shane Zweygardt – drums
See Dead Pioneers at the following dates in the UK and EU.
July
8 – IE Róisín Dubh, Galway
9 – IE The Workman’s Club, Dublin
11 – UK 2000 Trees Festival
16 – DE Back To The Future Festival
17 – DE Adieu Tristesse Festival
18 – DE Seepogo Festival
Find Dead Pioneers online HERE:
Band Consists of Greg Norton (Hüsker Dü), Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion, Agent Orange, Adolescents) and Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum)
Ultrabomb have unveiled the music video for their latest single “no cap,” a melodic, driving anthem that balances urgency with hook-heavy punch. The track is the latest preview from their forthcoming full-length album The Bridges That We Burn, due May 1, 2026 via DC-Jam Records / Virgin Music Group.
Built on soaring guitar lines, driving rhythms, and a chorus that hits with clarity and conviction, “no cap” showcases Ultrabomb’s ability to fuse melody with muscle. The song channels frustration with the modern noise cycle into something focused and forward-looking — less about shouting over the chaos and more about cutting through it.
“There is a lot of noise to keep us distracted. Everyone has an opinion, informed, and not informed. I’m at capacity with all the bs, let’s start real conversations.” — Greg Norton
Ultrabomb brings together underground legends and alternative stalwarts:
Together, the trio channel decades of punk and alternative rock history into music that feels immediate and relevant rather than retrospective. Melody and momentum move in lockstep — sharp, anthemic, and emotionally direct.
As Magnet observed, Ultrabomb delivers “a swift blow to the sternum that harnesses both the speedy energy of Norton’s early Minneapolis days and the ragged hard-rock sensibility of Twin Tone-era Soul Asylum.”
The Bridges That We Burn was recorded at Creation Audio in Minneapolis and produced, engineered, and mixed by John Fields, with mastering by Justin Perkins (Mystery Room Mastering). The album broadens the band’s dynamic range while maintaining the tight, high-impact songwriting that defines Ultrabomb.
With “no cap,” Ultrabomb prove that conviction doesn’t require chaos — just clarity, melody, and the willingness to say what matters.
Follow ULTRABOMB
https://linktr.ee/ultrabomb
Label
DC-Jam Records / Virgin Music Group
www.dcjamrecords.com
Where exactly do I start to review an album where I’m hearing something new whenever I play it, something that spikes my interest repeatedly, yet it’s difficult (yet hopefully not impossible) to put my finger on exactly what that something is with each new play.
So, what about I start with a quick back story whilst I try to collect my thoughts?
Evil Blizzard are a six piece from Preston, who not only have multiple bass players within their ranks but also wear masks in all their publicity shots and when they play live. Their fourth studio record ‘Death Songs & Lullabies’ is being released via Crackedankles Records on March 27th 2026 and it’s this record that has me (almost) lost for words.
Why? Well where better to start than with album opener ‘Off With Their Heads’, it’s a track that opens (and closes) with a simple beat box rhythm that wouldn’t be out of place on a Sleaford Mods record that segues into a mystical PIL meets Hawkwind riff before finally erupting into a furious onslaught that is equal parts Rammstein and Killing Joke, and that’s all within the first four minutes and thirty six seconds of the LP.
Citing influences as diverse as Krautrock and Discharge listening to ‘Death Songs & Lullabies’ reminds me of the first time I heard legendary UK band Cardiacs or US art rockers Jane’s Addiction. It’s a demanding listen because it’s not a typical rock record, but in an age where rock is overrun with generic shite tailor made to fit into a particular audience demographic, this can only be a good thing, right?
The punk rock influence is more than obvious during the just past one minute almost metal gallop that is ‘Four Letter Words’ and the head fuck that goes by the title of ‘Wake The Dead In Bedlam’ where Discharge’s current singer Jeff (JJ) Janiak pops up to hammer home the song’s hypnotic chorus. Meanwhile for those who maybe like things a little mellower, I’m sure the trance-like eight minute plus ‘Black Square’ would have most fans of progressive music stroking their goatees in appreciation.
As ‘Death Songs & Lullabies’ passes it’s midpoint ‘Questions//Answers’ rears its many heads like some majestic hydra, and whilst the teenage Sham 69 fan in me so wanted this to be more than just some grammatical reworking of their classic late ‘70s terrace anthem it is instead a track that wouldn’t be out of place on side two of ‘Ritual De Lo Habitual’ and my mind is once again well and truly blown when the songs hit’s it’s volatile mid-section. Boomshanka!!!!!
There’s not going to be many records like ‘Death Songs & Lullabies’ released in 2026 that’s for sure. It’s epic, it’s ferocious, it’s exhilarating, and above all, it’s fantastic.
Get your mind blown by ordering your copy HERE.
Author: Johnny Hayward
This month sees the return of melodic rockers Tyketto with their 6th studio album, Closer to the Sun, their first in a decade. The Danny Vaughn-fronted band soar higher than they have gone before.
With 11 rip-roaring tracks, the album highlights everything fans have loved about the band ever since we first heard them back in 1991 with their classic debut ‘Don’t Come Easy’. Bearing in mind that a mind-blowing 35 years have passed since then. The fact that Danny and his merry band are still rockin’ and rollin’ is something that can not be taken away.
First up is the single ‘Higher Than High’, which, please forgive me, left this reviewer a little cold when it was released last November. Having said that, I can thankfully say that, over time, it has grown on me, and I bet it is a crowd pleaser when played live.
Then we get ‘Starts with a Feeling’, which, to these ears, reminds me more of Danny Vaughn’s solo output, but come the chorus, it instantly becomes a future Tyketto classic. One thing that is ever-present in anything featuring the dulcet tones of Mr Vaughn is the storytelling that takes you out of the misery of everyday life and transports you to a better place.
Up next is ‘Bad For Good’, which sees the new guitarist, Harry Scott Elliott, with a riff worthy of anything the band did in the ‘90s. The groove is still unmistakably Tyketto. That is one thing this album showcases: which is clearly a band honouring their past while looking to the future.
The acoustic opening ‘We Rise’ again takes me on a whirlwind journey, which is always a trademark of the band, and when Danny Vaughn starts singing, the chest-thumping chorus is sublime. This is what the fans want from the band, and they deliver in bucketloads. Another hero of this song is Ged Rylands with his exquisite keyboard work.
The honkytonk swagger of ‘Donnowhuddidis’ is for me the only down note on the album, nothing to take away from the musicality on it. But it just doesn’t do anything for me. Compared that to the next track, the amazing title track ‘Closer to the Sun’, and it’s almost like a different band, but that is what I really love about this band, is that even though they might not hit the mark every time, it’s close enough.
‘Harleys & Indians (Riders in the Sky)’ is up next, but be aware that this song is not on the vinyl version, which is a shame. This song is another example of a mid-paced rocker that rolls along nicely and with some great shoutouts to the greats.
The upbeat rocker that is ‘Hit Me Where It Hurts’ highlights the grooviness that this new line-up of the band are masters of. Harking back to some ‘Strength In Numbers’ era songs. One thing I’ve got to mention is the rhythm section of Chris Childs on Bass and Johnny Dee on Drums, which is tight and perfect. While also letting the songs breathe.
Now the next song up is for me one of the best that this band has ever released, and that is a high claim, considering the impressive back catalogue that Tyketto has released. ‘The Picture’ is just incendiary. Danny Vaughn has rarely sounded this good. You can tell that the band are firing on all cylinders, no more than on this beautiful song.
‘Far and Away’ is another classic example of the acoustic/ based jam before the band kicks in, which is their bread and butter, reminiscent of ‘Sail Away’ from the classic debut. But, hey, if it works, why mess with it? I do like the strings section, which adds some depth to the song.
The final track is rabblerousing ‘The Brave’, which is a fantastic way to end a great album and the musical equivalent of a cliffhanger, to the next album of the great line-up of the band. The decision to record the album at Flip Flop Studios and the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales proves that the band are thinking ahead and, as always, thinking of the fans who deserve nothing short of perfection.
Tyketto, with the release of ‘Closer to the Sun’, have achieved what many of their peers strive to: an album that boldly goes above and beyond in the name of musical evolution, all the while remembering where they came from.
Buy Here
Author: Dave Prince
Fresh off the GRAMMY-nominated success of ‘Happiness Bastards’ in 2024, The Brothers Grim Chris and Rich Robinson wasted no time getting back to work and mining this seam of Rock n roll they happened upon. Returning to Nashville to reunite with producer Jay Joyce and recapture the spark that powered their last record, they just got on with business in a much happier place these days and left all their bullshit and background noise in the rear view mirror. The result is another glittering prize that to their credit, is banger after banger. Gone are the long beards and dope fueled jams, and a leaner more back to their roots, rock n roll homage to the Keif and Ronnie and Faces days rock n roll are front and centre.
The Black Crowes have created a rock record that’s loose and loud, and from the off, ‘Profane Prophecy’ is as good a rocker as they’ve delivered in decades, and time will testify that it’s right up there with the really early rockers, all be it with a modern production. The record stays true to the rockier edges of the band’s sound with only a couple of fleeting forays into the acoustic world, but like the early days’ big ballads, they really don’t touch the style. Rich brings the Telecaster riffs on the opening songs, absolutely killing it, on the Keith Richards inspired ‘Cruel Streak’, leaving enough room for his Brother to wail and deliver a stonking vocal as good as anything he’s delivered for decades. It gets funky, dark and heavy with the girls helping out on the chorus and leaving enough room for some honking keys. The breakdown is huge and had me nodding with approval as the fuzzed-up licks keep coming.
We get the first acoustic haze much more in keeping with ‘Exile’ era Stones than any Deadhead workout. ‘Pharmacy Chronicles’ is another excellent performance from Chris as he seems focused and emotional in the best possible way. The arrangement with the keys is impeccable. The rock is then turned up with some fantastic riffage from Rich Robinson on ‘Do The Parasite’. We then have a couple of more laid-back moments for the listener to take stock and catch their breath, ending with the epic of the mellower moments being ‘Queen Of The B Side’, but another thing is that the songs are kept lean and to the point, and none overstay their welcome.
‘It’s Like That’ gets its groove on for a very loud and chaotic workout where the music bounces off the vocals and sparks fly as they jostle for the limelight with some awesome BVs just to make the song kick you even harder in the nuts. Jagged, rock n roll at its finest. The tempo is raised again as we head into the homestright ‘Blood Red Regrets’ makes way for classic riff n roll Crowes style ‘You Call This A Good Time’ before ‘Eros Blues’ picks its way through the intro before shaking any cobwebs away and being the only hippy tinged tune but in the best possible way as it twists and turns before signing the record off with ‘Doomsday Doggerel’ and a levvy breaking drum beat twists your mellon with some fucked up vocal melodies before clearing ones head and stamping a full stop on what is a mightily impressive record and a step up in quality forom their last mightily impressive offering of ‘Happiness Bastards’ and offers a record of variety and impeckable quality ‘A pound of feathers’ is heavy and light and shows that form is temporary but class is permanent and this is class – Buy it!
Buy Here
Author: Dom Daley
New Album ‘Talk About It’ Out April 3 via Hellcat Records
EU / UK Tour Dates Confirmed
Grade 2 share new single “Better Today”, a track that explores the impact depression can have on relationships and the fragile process of recovery. The song contrasts the experience of hitting rock bottom with a more hopeful present, capturing both accountability and progress.
Guitarist Jack Chatfield explains:
“Better Today talks about the damage that depression can have on a relationship. It contrasts between the recent past of being at rock bottom to a now hopeful present.”
Listen to “Better Today” HERE.
The single is taken from the band’s fourth album Talk About It,setfor release on April 3rd viaHellcat Records. Over twelve years since forming as schoolmates, bassist Sid Ryan, guitarist Jack Chatfield, and drummer Jacob Hull reflect on growth, resilience, and the realities of life on and off the road.
Talk About It captures a defining chapter of growth for the band — shaped by touring through uncertainty, navigating relationships at home while building momentum on international stages, and channeling personal struggles into direct, honest songwriting. From festival appearances to sharing stages with longtime heroes, Grade 2 turn experience into urgency and reflection into songs built on grit and melody.
The album stands as a statement of survival and evolution — raw, focused, and forward-looking.
Grade 2 will hit the road in support of the new album, with UK dates kicking off at the end of the month before continuing across Europe throughout spring and early summer. The run spans Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe, and festival appearances, marking one of their most extensive touring periods to date. Please see below for the full list of dates. The tickets are available via the band’s Website.
Tracklisting – Talk About It
Grade 2 – 2026 Tour Dates
20.03 | The Deers Head | Belfast
21.03 | Lost Lane | Dublin
28.03 | The Bodega Social Club | Nottingham
29.03 | The Key Club | Leeds
30.03 | The Deaf Institute | Manchester
31.03 | The Garage Attic | Glasgow
01.04 | Exchange | Bristol
03.04 | O2 Academy Islington | London
04.04 | Strings | Isle Of Wight
25.04 | Zakk | Dusseldorf, Germany
26.04 | Don’t Panic | Essen, Germany
27.04 | Hansa39 | Munich, Germany
29.04 | Arena Wein | Vienna, Austria
30.04 | F-Haus | Jena, Germany
01.05 | BETA Club | Copenhagen, Denmark
02.05 | Bahnhof Pauli | Hamburg, Germany
03.05 | Mikropol | Berlin, Germany
06.05 | Paradiso | Amsterdam, Netherlands
07.05 | Hall Of Fame | Tilburg, Netherlands
18.06 | Graspop Metal Meeting | Belgium
20.06 | Letzigrund Stadium | Zurich, Switzerland
For more information:
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