29 Mar 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Government Pest - Album Review: Government Pest

24 Dec 2016 // A review by Peter-James Dries

For me there's something about Palmy music, both the live shows and the records they produce, and works from the $lave Collective especially. They remind me of home. It gives me a sense of belonging.

Even though I'm not part of the furniture like some in the scene, there's a comfort in seeing the familiar faces congregate for the music, our common drug of choice, at a home show at The Royal. 

Starting as a collaboration between Kristov Raven and Rob from Project: Blood back when I was still in high school, Government Pest has been resurrected in 2016 with a new line up and a sound disconnected from the previous and current bands the comprising members call home. 

For those not familiar with the scene, multiple bands with the same core members is one of the idiosyncrasies of the $lave Collective, perhaps because of the limited talent pool, with members moving on, falling out or being committed to other projects.  

Though the members are mostly the same, different bands express different ideas and influences, most of which involving alcohol, revolution and weed, the namesake of my favourite song by one such band, The Molotov Vote. 

Outsiders with insight might find it strange how two thirds of Turbostill, a band whose name is synonymous with Palmy music, can sound so different with the change of just one member, yet if you take Maynard from Tool and put him in a side project, it still sounds like Maynard. 

Where the music of Turbostill was a “Hey-Ho-Let's-Go,” loose and loud Ramones style rock, roll n’ alcohol gig, Government Pest’s first album of the current evolution is a more refined – especially now it has been remastered – and structured affair.  

Remember the golden age of metal when bands didn't have to have some marketing gimmick and just put out decent Heavy Metal you could enjoy without all the pretentiousness that comes with it these days. This is that album.  

Groove Metal to mosh to, with crunching heavy riffs and bile spat out with all the intensity of early Metallica, back when they were good (a long long time ago for some fans). 

This is a tight, heavy album with some memorable riffs and anthemic refrains. A great piece of Palmy music history, deserving of being remembered beside the Turbostill and Hellborne classics, and not just relegated as a footnote or short lived side project.  

But these guys probably don't care if I think Government Pest is good or not. They've been making music for years because music is something they love. They do what they do and they do it well, because if they don't feel it they can move on to something else. But this style, distinct from other bands before, deserves to be revisited and expanded on, hopefully over a shorter timeframe than it took to create this iteration of Government Pest.   

If you're ever in Palmy on a Friday or Saturday night (you poor fool) go check out one of the local gigs at the Royal. You might find your new home. 

For more local music check out the $lave Collective Bandcamp where they host some of the greats from bands gone by. While you're at it, check out the video for album opener The Rise on Youtube

You can find Government Pest's eponymous album is available from the Government Pest Bandcamp using the Name Your Price scheme the site offers. That can mean free, but I suggest slipping the band a few bucks at least. The members have been providing music and a show for longer than some readers have been alive. It's about time the next round of drinks was on you.

 

About Government Pest

Kristov recorded the album Hostile takeover with Rob from Project: Blood doing vocals back in 2003 under the name Government Pest.

After the end of local bands Hellborne, Wall of Silents, Neckstretchers and Bloodspray for Politics and more. Goverment Pest was brought back to life with Kristov playing guitar and doing vocals, Murray Shaw playing bass, and Aaron Sanko playing drums.

They played their first show on Friday 31st October 2014 at The Slavefest Halloween Party 2014. Since then they have played a number of shows and recorded their first album in March 2016.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Government Pest

Releases

Disengage
Year: 2019
Type: Album
Government Pest
Year: 2016
Type: Album
Hostile Takeover
Year: 2003
Type: Album

Other Reviews By Peter-James Dries

Yann Le Dorré - Album Review: The Circus is Closed
19 Dec 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
“We are Sex Bob-Omb and we're here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff!” - Scott Pilgrim vs.
Read More...
Sanoi - Album Review: Echoes Of Home
25 Nov 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Electronica offers no escapism for me. It’s more of what I already have.
Read More...
Throng - EP Review: Decoherence
20 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
You know that thing where the letter B has a personality, or words have textures and colours? That’s called synaesthesia.
Read More...
Fortress Europe - Album Review: Old World
10 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Have you ever been torn between listening to Mozart or Periphery? Does Epica have too much of that darn singing for your tastes?
Read More...
Yurt Party - Album Review: Yurt Party
07 Sep 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
It sure isn't summer, and this is really not the Balkans, but Yurt Party’s new self-titled album refutes that. Back with another one of them Balkan rocking beats, Yurt Party’s debut is jazzy, erratic, and full of zest and energetic grooves, with flavour notes of ska, dub, and bergamot.
Read More...
day13n - Album Review: /7/13/7/
06 Aug 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
I’m too old for this world. We’ve devolved to the point where music is only as good as the soundtrack to your 10 second TikTok, and the thirty thousand copies recycling the idea.
Read More...
The New Existentialists - Single Review: Invocation
16 Jul 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
The New Existentialists, a doom metal band known for their dark and atmospheric soundscapes, have just… Wait a minute… No. The New Existentialists are really not a doom metal band, and they’re really not known for their dark soundscapes… They’re more known as stalwarts of a bygone era.
Read More...
Samuel Philip Cooper - Album Review: Journey to Sobriety
01 Jun 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Samuel Philip Cooper sits on the brink of social media stardom, with videos of his belting out pop music piano covers from behind a pair of thick spectacles racking up views and likes on Insta. Little do any of the mindless doom scrollers swiping through his reels know, but percolating behind his eye brows is the very key to their very salvation.
Read More...
View All Articles By Peter-James Dries

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem