Government Issue: Вашингтондық хардкор панк тобының тарихы

American hardcore punk band
members of the U. S. armed forces or items of their equipment

Government Issue was an American hardcore punk band from Washington, D. C. active from 1980 to 1989. The band experienced many changes in membership during its nine year existence, with singer John Stabb as the only consistent member in an ever fluctuating lineup that at various times included notable musicians Brian Baker, Mike Fellows, Steve Hansgen, J. Robbins, and Peter Moffett. Government Issue originated from the Washington, D. C. hardcore scene but added elements of heavy metal, new wave, and psychedelic rock on later records. Though this has caused the band to be sometimes overlooked in relation to other Washington, D. C. hardcore acts, their stylistic diversity made them influential to later punk rock groups. Government Issue performed occasional reunion shows in the 2000s and 2010s with various lineups, until Stabb's death from stomach cancer in 2016.

Government Issue originated in 1980 as The Stab, from which lead singer John Schroeder derived his pseudonym John Stabb. As the members of The Stab drifted apart, Stabb and drummer Marc Alberstadt recruited guitarist John Barry and bassist Brian Gay, changing the band's name to Government Issue. The band's second performance was shut down midway by the police. Baker later recalled that "Ian [MacKaye] and Jeff [Nelson] were gonna start something with Eddie [Janney] and John Falls, so I joined the DC band I liked the best who needed somebody — Government Issue. They were a great band, especially early on." Government Issue also contributed two tracks to Flex Your Head, Dischord's 1982 compilation album of D. C. area hardcore punk bands. Baker later commented that his guitar style did not mesh well with the band's sound: "I wasn't a bass player and Government Issue was a chance to play guitar. They were better with John Barry on guitar but they were biggest when I was in the band. Their whole sound was his insane guitar playing, which I played nothing like. I played like Ace Frehley." Dischord Records reissued Legless Bull in 2002 while Dr. Strange released Strange Wine: Live at CBGB August 30th, 1987 in 2003, consisting of live recordings and studio tracks remastered by Tom Lyle. 2005 saw the release of the DVD Live 1985. On July 17, 2007 John Stabb was assaulted by five men near his home and required extensive facial reconstruction surgery. To help him and then wife Mika Ackerman pay for his medical bills and lost wages, a benefit concert was held on September 23, 2007 which featured a reunited lineup of Stabb, Tom Lyle, and Brian Baker, joined by drummer William Knapp, performing as "Government Re Issue". A portion of the proceeds from the 2007 Riot Fest concert were donated to Stabb to pay for his medical bills, as well as to J. Robbins, whose son had been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy. In 2009 DC Jam Records released The Punk Remains the Same, an EP of live Government Issue tracks recorded in 1982 and 1983. Government Issue reunited a second time for a performance in Washington, D. C. on December 11, 2010. The show, which included local bands The Goons & Set to Explode, featured the band's final lineup of Stabb, Lyle, Robbins, and Moffett, and was a benefit to raise medical funds for a local GI Fan Steve 'Stereo Faith.' McPhereson After the final reunion show, Stabb said "Government Issue is a group again, and it was so much fun playing Damaged City Fest 2014, we decided to just keep it going." The band continued in 2015, playing the Bad Ass Weekend festival in Houston that February and a five date tour of the Southeastern United States in October and November, including a performance at The Fest. Stabb died of stomach cancer on May 7, 2016 at the age of 54.

Quote box |quote=Government Issue was one of the best bands in the history of American Hardcore. For one reason or another, they were jinxed. Their van'd break down; they'd do tours and have ten people at the show because of no publicity — everything bad that could happen to a band happened to them. But they were amazing. Aaron Burgess of Alternative Press notes that the continual evolution in sound over the band's nine year lifespan made their music more influential to later generations of punk rock groups:

Though they started out playing solid, standard issue melodic hardcore, Government Issue weren't afraid to let their outside influences, no matter how incongruous, infect their music—or, in Stabb's case, their look, as well [ ] So, while Stabb's hairdos and stage clothes got increasingly kookier, so did the band's music draw ideas from pop, goth, psychedelia, Middle Eastern music and beyond. And while changes like these could seem like sellout moves for a group that once wrote a song called "Rock 'N' Roll Bullshit", they were a vital next step in the evolution of [insert whatever eclectic punk CD you're listening to today]. However, though they did have a following in the straight edge community, Government Issue's stylistic expansion from one album to the next alienated much of their early hardcore audience. Blush writes that "Unfortunately, most who went to see G. I. through the 80s still expected to hear hardcore reminiscent of the first EP. The group was moving into a softer, R. E. M. direction, and none of their fans gave a shit about such profound maturity." Huey remarks that the band "has remained somewhat overlooked in relation to the rest of the D. C. hardcore bands of their time, in part because their music never really fit the proto emo bent of much of the local Dischord stable", while Burgess notes that they nonetheless "made history in their own way by never fitting into the scene most people naturally associated with their city."