Originally published in Verbicide issue #6

Call me jaded, but it isn’t too terribly often when I get a CD for review in the mail that immediately excites me. The day this album showed up was one of those rare moments — a moment where I couldn’t dodge traffic fast enough to get to my car after making my daily post office visit.

Thanks to Dr. Strange, the music of Government Issue, one of the most severely underrated DC hardcore bands of the ’80s, has been catalogued in two volumes. How much music is packed within this single jewel case? Fifty-one — yes, fifty-one — tracks on two different discs. Disc one contains 21 studio tracks, including classics such as “Public Stage,” “Connecticut,” and my personal favorite, “Time Will Rearrange,” as well as a live version of “Public Stage.” Live versions of almost every song on the first disc appear on the second disc, plus a few that don’t, such as “Rabbits” and “The Land of Me.”

No, there are no tracks that date back to the earliest Dischord days (What? No “Anarchy is Dead?”) but regardless, this is an incredible compilation of material, and is utterly indispensable for anyone who ever once gave a crap about real punk rock musicians with real talent.

(Dr. Strange Records, PO Box 7000-117, Alta Loma, CA 91701)