Earlier this summer, the thunderously ignorant, rap-inflected hardcore band Gridiron were selling Charli XCX parody shirts. It had the Brat green and the font, but it said “Grid.” If you saw that shirt out in the wild, would you get it? Does anyone even refer to Gridiron as just “Grid”? It’s so stupid! I love it! In its own way, that’s a nice way into the whole Gridiron thing.

Gridiron’s members come from Detroit, Philadelphia, and Delaware, and some of them are also in bands like Never Ending Game, Scarab, and Simulakra. Their debut album No Good At Goodbyes came out in 2022, and it was the kind of unsophisticated fuck-you-up music that really resonates in the hardcore world. Earlier this year, Gridiron leader Mathew Karll yell-rapped on Missing Link’s single “Numbers On The Board.” Today, Gridiron have joined the growing roster at Blue Grape Music, and they’ve dropped a new single to celebrate. (Blue Grape has only been around for a few years, but they’ve already signed bands like Gel, Spiritual Cramp, and the reunited Superheaven. They’re building something over there!)

Gridiron’s new single is an anthemic rager called “Talk Real,” and it breaks exactly zero ground. This is just what this band does. They crank out incendiary mosh-riffs while Mathew Karll bellow-raps about how you’re soft and fake. It’s awesome. Gridiron have a few shows coming up, including a couple of big dates with the intermittently active Trapped Under Ice. Below, check out those shows and director Daniel Centrone’s football-centric “Talk Real” video.

TOUR DATES:
12/06 – Albany, NY @ Empire (Tune Low Die Slow)
12/07 – Reading, PA @ Club Reverb (Keystone Holiday Jam & Tattoo Convention)
12/28 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
12/29 – Rutherford, NJ @ The Blackbox at the Williams Center *
5/11 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Festival

* with Trapped Under Ice

“Talk Real” is out now on Blue Grape Music.