The Grimly Pleased are back at it in 2025 with not one, but two fresh EPs – I’d Be Delighted and I’ll Choose It – both cut at The Record Company in Boston. True to form, the band hasn’t skimped on visuals either: the covers are a split design, one half for each EP, like two sides of the same restless coin.
Musically, they’re still doing what they do best – tight, driving punk rock that balances muscle with melody. The guitars snarl and chime, the bass punches in lockstep, and the drums keep everything locked into a heartbeat and precision.
Lyrically, these songs carry that mix of wit and self-awareness the band’s been honing.
On I’d Be Delighted, things stretch into more playful and sometimes earnest territory: “I Will Say” and “I’d Be Delighted” sound almost like love letters filtered through punk sarcasm, while “My Superstar” and “Ah Ah Ah Oh” lean into chant-along simplicity, the kind of thing you can already picture the crowd yelling back at the stage.
On I’ll Choose It, you’ve got tracks like “Nobody Dances at Shows Anymore” that hit on nostalgia and awkwardness with tongue-in-cheek hooks, while “Adult Delinquent” takes the piss out of modern bad habits with lines that are both bratty and weirdly relatable.
What’s cool is how The Grimly Pleased manage to keep it all sharp – they don’t just bash out three-chord burners, they give each track its own space, layering personality into the riffs and choruses. There’s humor here, there’s frustration, there’s even some tenderness, but it all gets delivered with that punchy Boston punk edge.
Two EPs, one vision: The Grimly Pleased are showing they can still keep their sound fun, fresh, and a little bit smarter than the average pogo soundtrack.
The Grimly Pleased members:
Ed Charbonnier – bass and vocals
Adam Thorsell – vocals
Chris Busch – lead guitar
Ben Hunter – rhythm guitar and vocals
Anders Geering – drums
The Grimly Pleased social media:
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