Last month I wrote about seeing Richmond, Virginia’s ’80s-hardcore-flashback band Government Warning at Gilman and being blown away by their sound:

They played great—tight, straight-ahead, perfect ’80s hardcore—and were unstoppably energetic. They’re not like a reimagining of the sound; they simply are the sound.

So I ordered their 2006 LP, No Moderation. It took two weeks to get to me, and the anticipation was thick. When it finally arrived. I immediately put it on. I had it on 33 rpm at first and it didn’t sound quite right, so I put it on 45. But that sounded too fast. They can’t possibly be that fast. Oh, but they are; 45 rpm is the correct speed. I mean, they’re not grindcore or anything, but they’re certainly speedy. I was immediately blown away. I’m a rather subdued person, but I did an air-guitar jump in my living room; I don’t normally do that. I wanted to run around and jump some more and start up a circle pit, and I don’t even like circle pits. It’s that good. Government Warning fit in perfectly with the likes of the Circle Jerks, Adolescents, Reagan Youth, 7 Seconds, early Black Flag. But they’re more energetic. I listened to the record twice in a row. If I didn’t have to get to my yoga class, I would’ve kept on playing it.

And look at that cover art: a skeleton nurse shooting up a skeleton patient in a hospital bed—and the patient is holding a small American flag and Bible, and his window overlooks a graveyard full of crosses as far as the eye can see. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, but it’s classic. The lyrics range from political to something you might write if you were a teenager in your first punk band. (“Jocks and Cops” contains these nuggets: “Ejaculate on your weight machine” and “Big man, Mr. Football Star, fuck you asshole and fuck your car.”) From the first song to the last, this record is a bombardment of fun but serious rock; it never lets up. It’s absolutely perfect.