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Mission of Burma: Signals, Calls, and Marches

Contributed By: DeBastardz
Created On: Monday, 24 March 2008
Hits: 15

Signals, Calls, and Marches

The history of post-punk has been written in many different ways, but in most versions, the question of where Mission of Burma fits in is a puzzler. Which is as it should be, because their music, a singular mix of complexity and immediacy, deserves its own notch on any post-punk measuring stick. Though popular in their hometown of Boston, they weren't really part of a scene.

That's due in part to how unique the recordings actually were. Where most indie bands at the time recorded in less-than-ideal circumstances, Mission of Burma were supported by Boston label Ace of Hearts, whose owner Rick Harte produced them with meticulous precision. For these three Matador reissues, Harte himself re-mastered the original analog tapes. The resulting clarity adds power to songs that have reverberated loudly through alternative rock for three decades, influencing everyone from R.E.M. to Fugazi to Nirvana.

Ironically, these recordings were somewhat misrepresentative, as Harte's production cleaned up the band's brutally-loud live sound. But that's why "Academy Fight Song" and "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" were instant post-punk classics. As guitarist Roger Miller explains in his notes, "Revolver" came out "much milder than we thought it should be...[and] that probably helped it become as big of a 'hit' as it was."

The band swerves seamlessly from chugging beat and jangly guitar to off-key chords and off-kilter rhythms, ending with a chant of "Dada!" that's both goofily artsy and seriously infectious. That 7" opens Matador's reissue of the band's second release, the Signals, Calls, and Marches EP. From the spine-stiffening "This is Not a Photograph" to the post-rock-presaging "All World Cowboy Romance", this CD is impeccable. Even two new cuts, instrumental tracks from 1981 to which the band added vocals and guitars last year, are forcefully memorable. Add a DVD of two stunning shows (the black and white multi-camera shoot from a 1980 set at Boston's Underground is almost too good to be true), and this is probably the best Mission of Burma release ever.

The two other Matador reissues are nearly as essential. Vs., the band's sole full-length, sees them stretching their sound without overreaching. There are more anthemic gems, like the Modern Lovers-in-a-blender "Ballad of Johnny Burma" and the frantic "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate". But there is also a moody Joy Division-ish exploration ("Train"), chiming meditations ("Dead Pool", "Einstein's Day"), and a dissonant stomp ("New Nails") that predicts Sonic Youth's marriage of Glenn Branca and the Ramones. The Horrible Truth About Burma was a posthumous live release, its title a reference to the group's unruly concert sound.