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: Die Toten Hosen – Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark 29th August 2025
When German punks Die Toten Hosen (The Dead Trousers) returned to Copenhagen for the first time in about 30 years, tickets for the +1500 capacity


Album review: Launch Control release ‘The Omnipotent Wage’
Berkshire’s best kept Punk Rock secret tell us how fucked the world is! Reading-based band Launch Control are socio-political punks, who have been together since


Shake Some Acton gig #110, London Hope & Anchor, 30th August 2025
Barcelona quintet Radioactivas come across as much a gang as a band, and they’re a gang that we wanna join. Vocalist Eri hands out some


Four weeks until Undercover Festival – don’t miss these great bands topping off the season in South Essex!
The Festival season isn’t over – Undercover will host a fantastic line-up – join us there for 2 music-packed days at The Showground, Battlesbridge Antiques


Video premiere – Griff and Smiley release their version of the Beatles Classic ‘Twist & Shout’!
Rock Radio UK DJ, musician, and all-round mega personality Griff Griffiths is back with a joyful cover of one of his all-time favorite songs, ‘Twist


EP review: Dunce release ‘Penis Fly Trap’
Brighton-based band Dunce are not the same as your typical punk band. They have some similarities to Primus and Warmduscher, so the punk element is
Artist, illustrator, designer, author, creative thinker, low-brow weirdo, writer of prose and cake decorator. BA (Art History), GradDip (Humanities), BSc (Psychology).