Review / 200 Words Or Less
Government Issue
The Punk Remains the Same

DC Jam (2009) Sean K.

Government Issue – The Punk Remains the Same cover artwork
Government Issue – The Punk Remains the Same — DC Jam, 2009

New live E.P. from these DC music legends. Featuring an earlier line-up than on their last live record (Strange Wine), this fits neatly on your shelf sandwiched between that record and Finale. Besides John Stabb on vocals and Tom Lyle on guitar, this release sports Marc Aberstadt (sans headband) on drums and Mitch Parker on bass. Two different live shows are sampled, and rumor has it there is more in the can that may someday see the light of day. Surprisingly bright recording considering this is from the early 1980's. I've seen naysayers whining that we don't need another version of "Sheer Terror" out there. Balderdash. That's like saying you can have too much whipped cream on your pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.

9.0 / 10Sean K. • October 6, 2009

Government Issue – The Punk Remains the Same cover artwork
Government Issue – The Punk Remains the Same — DC Jam, 2009

Related news

Government Issue bootlegs

Posted in Bands on November 20, 2012

Recently-posted album reviews

The Flyboys

Complete Flyboys 1979-1980
Frontiers Records (2026)

The archival hunt for the "missing links" of first-wave California punk usually leads through a trail of grainy handbill Xeroxes and tape traders' overdubbed copies. But with The Flyboys, the story has always been a bit more elegant—and a lot more colourful. Long before they were swept into the gravity of the Hollywood scene, frontman John Curry was already performing … Read more

Ultrabomb

The Bridges That We Burn
DC-Jam Records, Virgin (2026)

Ultrabomb just detonated. The Bridges That We Burn isn't some polite "heritage act" victory lap. It smells like a hand-rolled cigarette lit with a blowtorch in a damp Minneapolis alleyway. No reunion uranium glow here—just three lifers who’ve spent their lives in vans and aren’t interested in anything but the friction prediction. The DNA is legendary, but they aren’t coasting … Read more

Sweat

Tear it on Down
Vitriol (2026)

Tear It On Down is the third record from Sweat and it picks up where the last two left off. It's aggressive hardcore punk, but with a playful groove or swagger that really makes it feel uplifting, even when the content is not. Case in point: "Surveillance State," which rolls kind of like a call-and-response song, except that lead vocalist … Read more