Government Issue emerged from the same early-'80s Washington, DC hardcore scene that birthed Minor Threat. In fact, Minor Threat's bassist Brian Baker was an early member of the band. Like the other groups who made their debuts on the legendary Dischord label, Government Issue liked its punk loud and fast, but the group was ambitious enough to push the genre's stylistic boundaries. The band's first few albums were solid hardcore offerings, but it was on this 1986 album that Government Issue definitively moved into more adventurous territory. While there are blazing guitars and pounding drums aplenty, touches like the organ on "Locked Inside," the sitar on "Last Forever," and the punk-meets-RED-era-King Crimson feel of the opener serve notice of the band's willingness to push the punk envelope. Never again would Government Issue fit conveniently into a DC hardcore pigeonhole.
