Search - Mission of Burma :: Onoffon

Mission Accomplished

Gavin B. | St. Louis MO | 01/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An old Boston friend wrote me an email in late 2001 to tell me that Mission of Burma was reuniting after a 2 decade hiatus. The news ruined my day. Why would Mission of Burma want to reunite with its three founding members well into middle age? Had Roger, Peter and Clint succumbed to the impulse to finally cash in while the Mission of Burma name was still bankable? The Sacred Legend of Burma would certainly go up in flames, as the reunited members would certainly be a mid-life crisis parody of the band's former glory. An artistically viable reunion of a middle-aged Mission of Burma seemed akin to something like mission impossible.



For three short years (1980-1983) Mission of Burma was the band that was our life. In the fashionably right wing climate of the early Reagan/Thatcher years, our boys fought the power and laughed in the face of conventional success as rock stars. It wasn't all about fame and fortune for Mission of Burma. Burma's music was about the outsider, the quiet loner who finally makes a political statement by reaching for his revolver and blowing it all away. Burma's left-leaning politics were aligned to the anti-authoritarian stance that inspired post-punk bands like the Gang of Four, the Mekons, Au-Pairs and even the Clash in the late Seventies.



The 2004 release of "Onoffon" on the venerable indie label Caroline, Mission of Burma gives faith to the jaded skeptics who believe that lightening cannot strike twice. From the opening chords of "The Setup" the trio plays with the same intensity, inspiration, clarity and creativity as their farewell gig in the Bradford Ballroom in 1983.



If anything the refinements in digital technology has enhanced the chugging leviathan rhythms of Peter Prescott and Clint Conley's signature drum and bass sound. Roger Miller's knotty riff driven guitar that inevitably resolved the dramatic tension with squalls of feedback remains intact. This is not a watered down, chilled out, lounge lizard version of Burma. Mission of Burma 2004 remains unafraid to enter the eye of the hurricane.



Burma rages against the New McCarthyism of the current George W. Bush era with the same vehemence as they did in opposition to the New World Order of the Reagan/Bush years of the early Eighties. The egalitarian experimental spirit of the early Eighties when Mission of Burma played seedy Boston punk rock circuit in clubs like the Underground, the Rat and Cantones has risen from the ashes. The resurrected Burma can still deliver deadly blows against the empire and inspire shock and awe.

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Same raw intensity and musical ambition they had in 1983...

Stephen Cabral | New England | 02/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How could a band get back together after 22 years and still sound relevant...like they never left? They're playing today with the same raw intensity and musical ambition that they had in 1983. No more Martin Swope manipulating their sound but their producer, Bobby Weston does create some pretty interesting effects. My favorite three tracks are the hard-rocking "The Set Up" which is loaded with great riffs and noises, "The Enthusiast" sounding like the Gang of Four jamming with The Clash, and "Fake Blood" with King Crimson like guitar and bass lines. I hope we don't have to wait 22 years for their next album."

Burma's best record?

Just Zach | Lombard, IL | 09/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know how many times it can be said: on "Onoffon," Mission of Burma sounds as vital and intense as they did in 1983, an amazing feat for a band who hasn't recorded together in 22 years (and lost a founding member along the way). Another review noted that the returing Burma doesn't attempt the wide-ranging experimentation of "Vs." For my money, that's not a bad thing, and here's why. "Onoffon" retains all the stomping ferocity of the 1983 model, and adds a focus and maturity gained through the intervening 20 years. In retrospect, it probably shouldn't be too surprising that a Burma reunion sounds this good. Miller stayed active in projects like the semi-successful Birdsongs of the Mesozoic; I think that gave him a clear idea, from the standpoint of musical experimentation, of what works and what doesn't. Prescott, meanwhile, blossomed as a leader and songwriter in his own right with the Volcano Suns and Kustomized. The only wild card here is Clint Conley - from what I know, the guy got out of the music business entirely after producing the first Yo La Tengo album (according to the Trouser Press, he was a TV producer in New Jersey); but then, we're talking about the guy who wrote "Academy Fight Song" after all.



Anyway, in summary, "Onoffon" sounds like the logical follow-up to "Vs." It's a testament to their previous work that Mission of Burma needed 20+ years of experience to find the confidence and vision needed to build on the strengths of those records while de-emphasizing their weaker moments."