To use SAT structure for an analogy: Beatles : Wings as Mission of
Burma : Volcano Suns. Back in the '70s, the joke was that one had to
explain to kids that the Beatles were the band Paul McCartney was in
before Wings. In the late '80s, when "White Elephant" was a hit single
by the very limited standards of Princeton radio station WPRB, I only
know of Mission of Burma as the predecessor to the Volcano Suns.
Eventually I learned, largely via Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life, that
Mission of Burma was a bigger deal.
Reunited for several years with two new albums under their belt, most
of the original line-up is remains intact: Peter Prescott on drums,
Roger Miller on guitar and Clint Conley on bass. Volcano Suns alum (and
current Shellac bassist and Wait
Wait... Don't Tell Me sound engineer) Bob Weston has taken over
for Martin Swopes on tape loops offstage. This was the second of a
two-night stint. At the previous show, they performed Signals, Calls and Marches in its
entirety. On Friday, they trotted out VS,
which has recently been reissued. They warmed up with other material
before embarking on their main mission, and they even announced the
beginning of Side 2. They wrapped up with more songs not from that
album.
This is the ideal victory lap for a band to take. While their noisiness
will always limit their appeal, they have finally found the audience
they deserve, and they earned respect with their spirited set. This was
post-punk, not fueled by anger, but nonetheless blistering, and their
was joy in their playing. They resembled Pink Flag-era Wire but without the
arty affectations.
The question remains: Have they considered changing their name to
Mission of Myanmar?
For the first time since moving, I was happy to live in Boston
