It's apparent now that at some point in 1983 John Stabb and Tom Lyle of Government Issue may have gone off the deep end. I say that 'cause I've listened to Glee Club, the self-titled EP from the "band" of the same name.
The recording consists primarily of Stabb and Lyle -- they did almost everything here -- and it's a brave, bold, and challenging listen. This is not the straight up punk of your daddy's days, kid. No, this is something that pushes the boundaries every bit as much as Swans did back in 1983 -- as someone on Facebook astutely noted a sonic similarity between Stabb and Lyle and Gira's crew.
The "tunes" here are expansive and spacious explorations compared to the harDCore these cats made in their more famous band, and which they gleefully -- no pun intended -- resurrected in that 2012 Salad Days gig at the Black Cat where my pic above was taken. By Stabb's own admission on Bandcamp, he was listening to a lot of The Birthday Party at the time and there are moments here that recall Cave and those guys, but far more that bring to mind Swans or even Non.
This is not an easy listen but it's a necessary one. Let's be thankful that this bold and brave experiment from 2 D.C. rock legends is now available for purchase again.