Mission Of Burma

Among the numerous punk-inspired groups that emerged from Boston during the early 1980s, Mission of Burma ranked highest. Artistic yet free of excess pretension, the quartet proved adept at crafting compelling songs while delivering performances of raw ferocity. Guitarist Roger Miller, bassist Clint Conley, drummer Peter Prescott, and tape operator Martin Swope energized the city's alternative rock community; even after their brief initial run, they established a benchmark of quality that remained unmatched, a standard the band sustained following their unexpected 2002 reunion.

Burma's sound reflected classic early-1980s post-punk traits: nervous rhythms, abrupt metric changes, emphatic vocals, and sonic aggression akin to that of Gang of Four, Mekons, and Pere Ubu, acts that served as both contemporaries and influences. Elements of the Stooges' and Velvet Underground's proto-punk also surfaced clearly, alongside traces of Led Zeppelin and Roxy Music, shaping the band's darker compositional leanings and preference for extended, repetitive passages that could drill into the listener's consciousness. Burma distinguished itself further through extreme volume as a textural device. Roger Miller's guitar swathed the ensemble in dense, distorted, overlapping chords that exploded into piercing solos and deliberate feedback howls. With Prescott and Conley pounding relentlessly behind him, the music became viscerally physical, so much so that live audiences often departed feeling pummeled yet exhilarated.

The group first issued the explosive single "Academy Fight Song," long regarded as one of punk rock's landmark tracks, on Boston's then-leading indie imprint Ace of Hearts. Shortly afterward, within just over a year, they delivered two standout releases: the Signals, Calls and Marches EP and their sole full-length studio album, Vs. The EP leaned toward pop structures yet retained breathtaking intensity; Vs. favored darker, more foreboding tones, sacrificing riff-driven force for a potent surge of sonic disorder. Unbeknownst to listeners, this output marked the close of their first chapter. The extreme volume central to their approach had damaged the members' hearing, particularly Miller, whose severe tinnitus forced the band's dissolution. Miller nonetheless completed the final tour wearing protective range headphones to shield his ears. Following a poignant 1983 farewell trek, the performances appeared as the live album The Horrible Truth About Burma, an intermittently thrilling document of their onstage command. Miller subsequently pursued a solo path with the non-touring Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Prescott launched Volcano Suns, whose half-dozen worthwhile albums preceded his work with Kustomized alongside ex-Bullet La Volta vocalist Yukki Gipe. Conley produced Yo La Tengo's debut record before exiting the music industry to become a producer at Boston's WCVB television station.

In 2001, Prescott's short-lived Peer Group opened for reunited British art punks Wire, prompting Miller and Conley to join for an encore and marking the trio's first joint stage appearance since 1983. Later that year, Mission of Burma received prominent coverage in Michael Azerrad's account of 1980s indie rock, Our Band Could Be Your Life, while Conley resumed writing and performing with Consonant. After the Peer Group disbanded, the three active members of Mission of Burma arranged a pair of reunion concerts for early 2002. Martin Swope declined to take part; Shellac's Bob Weston, formerly of Volcano Suns, assumed live sound and tape-loop duties instead. A single New York date expanded into two sold-out Irving Plaza performances, and one Boston show grew into four appearances across three venues, including an "open rehearsal" under the name Myanmar. The band also joined the 2002 All Tomorrow's Parties lineup in England and undertook brief West Coast and Midwest tours. After several 2003 dates, including the American All Tomorrow's Parties, Mission of Burma entered the studio for their first recordings since Vs. Onoffon, issued alongside the greatest-hits collection Gun to the Head: A Selection from the Ace of Hearts Era, appeared on Matador Records in spring 2004. The label described the album in a press release as "This isn't just a hot new release, it's a goddamn cultural event." Their third studio album, The Obliterati, followed in 2006, then The Sound the Speed the Light in 2009, and Unsound in 2012.