Mission Of Burma "Signals, Calls, and Marches," "Vs.," "The Horrible Truth About Burma" (Matador)
By Tim Bugbee
Wednesday. May 14, 5:29 PM
Legends' first phase revisited.

As the flooded reissue market can clearly attest, not all legendary bands, or recordings from these bands, truly merit the bouquets of roses tossed their way. Certainly nostalgia can play a role here: "My music scene was so much better, man..." Beware of such blanket statements, especially when uttered by people with bi-focals and greying hair. However, all that cautionary discretion goes out the window when discussing the first phase of Mission Of Burma (so-called since the wildly unpredictable and successful early '00s reemergence of the original band [minus Martin Swope, plus Bob Weston]). Too pile-driving for the art crowd, not clothed in the authorized punk garb (both sartorially and in song construction and delivery), they were relative one-offs who couldn't make large inroads with either camp. Like the first time a White man saw an okapi, the question of whether it's a giraffe or a zebra went unanswered. For X and Y Gen'ers who might have been enlightened to the bristling rock moves of Roger Miller, Clint Conley, and Peter Prescott via OnoffOn and The Obliterati (both records which stand shoulder-to-shoulder to the records I'm talking about here) but somehow neglected to add the originals to their collection, this reissue program is the Australopithecus to help fill in that missing link.

Signals, Calls, and Marches was the original salvo, in its nascent form a six song EP which announced to the world at large what their intent was and why people should take notice. Here, it's filled out to 10 songs, including two studio recordings never before released ("Devotion" and "Execution," which appeared in demo form on Forget), and also includes a key 7 inch, their debut record that was comprised of "Academy Fight Song" and "Max Ernst." Their vision is fully formed from the get-go: angular rhythms, strong vocals without being strident, and the thick, full sound of all members combining their contributions in equal measure. Of course a couple songs from this EP were able to penetrate the collective psyche of even casual listeners, either in their native state or by more well-known bands covering them (REM doing "Academy Fight Song," Moby taking on "That's When I Reach For My Revolver"), but the covers are fairly anemic in comparison.

Vs. was the next record, and to think that such a vital band released a sole LP in their day is a head scratcher which surely would have inspired Rodin's sculpture. I'd heard reports that the massively excellent and woefully underrated DC > NYC band Versus took their name as inspiration from this record, and dozens of bands certainly studied this record carefully during the ensuing years. It's no surprise why. This is a fantastic record, and the sting of a great band never releasing anything else was ameliorated by the second phase of the band. But let's talk the past... the album's cover is an apt metaphor, with the beautiful pale blue morning glory (related to deadly nightshade) supported by the cold steel underpinnings of a chain-link fence. There are equal parts pleasure and pain, and no one could ever knowingly apply the words "dull" or "flagging" to a record which has stuff like "Secrets," "Dead Pool," and "Learn How" carved into it. Mission Of Burma didn't toss their playbook from MS&C, but rather studied and refined it. The brooding of "Dead Pool" and especially "Trem Two" belie a pungent counterpoint to the ecstatic rave-ups of "Learn How" and "The Ballad of Johnny Burma," where one can almost hear the splinters of Prescott's rapidly disintegrating drumsticks hit the studio floor. The proper closer of "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate" is such a rush, such a pummeling of all sorts of positive emotions that I heartily encourage all music fans to see this beast alive and writhing when the four men slash the air with it in the live setting.

The Horrible Truth About Burma is a live recording of various shows, a posthumous release which contains songs not found on their previously recorded material. As most live records go, it's got its hit or miss patches, but mostly shines. "Peking Spring" could easily sit on Vs., proving Conley continues to be the band's main strength in penning hook-filled songs. As a counterpoint, the next song "Dumbbells" has Miller torturing his guitar and amp, planting the ching-ching seed that Steve Albini would use as a calling card for a career. "Dirt" is another heroic anthem penned by Conley, not a Stooges cover; that's taken care of by the searing reading of "1970." However, that's not the best cover on the record, as even David Thomas must have slid off his bar stool when he heard Mission Of Burma's version of "Heart of Darkness," a throbbing electrified needle headed straight through the back of the neck and deep into your cerebellum.

All of these reissues come with more goodies than Santa stuffed into your stocking: liner notes (including some excellent give and take with Gerard Cosloy), bonus tracks, remastering, but especially key live concert footage on DVD. To say that these need your attention is a bit of an understatement, even if you still have the original records on Ace of Hearts.
www.missionofburma.com
www.matadorrecords.com

Click here to buy Signals, Calls, and Marches on iTunes!

Click here to buy Vs. on iTunes!

Click here to buy The Horrible Truth About Burma on iTunes!

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Tim Bugbee

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