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Rating: If there's one collective among the early hardcore bands that has stood out more than evidently for the originality of their proposal, it's the collective of the Bostonian Mission Of Burma (Roger Miller, Clint Conley, and Peter Prescott), who contend with their contemporaries, Flipper from San Francisco, for the title of the punk band with the most experimental approach.
The year of grace for the American punk-rock of the second wave is 1982: during that period, authentic masterpieces of the genre are released, such as "Walk Among Us" by Misfits, "Record" by Fear, "Death Of Innocence" by Legal Weapon, "Miami" by Gun Club, "If I Die I Die" by Virgin Prunes, and, indeed, "Generic" by Flipper and "Vs" by Mission Of Burma. The first three are exceptional examples of intense hardcore in the vein of Germs; records with a sound that is simple, raw, and brutal at the same time. The fourth and fifth records are linked, respectively, to the tradition of roots-rock and gothic dark, and, truthfully, only marginally related to punk.
But it's the last two albums mentioned that stand out for a sound mostly alien to the schemes and blind fury of hardcore, yet remain within its specific contours. "Vs", in particular, is the album I prefer between the two. Burma's music is at times raw, yes, for sure; at times it's brutal and frenetic, absolutely true; at times it's aggressive, rancid, foul, skewed, as in the best tradition; all correct, all true. However, gentlemen, Burma's music is not just this: it is also research, contamination, experimentation, in a word, avant-garde. Indeed, because it boldly reveals the desire to seek something "more" than just guitar massacre and unpleasant, piercing, animalistic screams: the band uses electronics, tape manipulation (good old Miler was a genius at this art), and their compositions are very close to an elastic and almost elegant power-pop. Not to mention the frequent melody of their songs and the use of singing that is anything but unpleasant.
The album begins, it's very true, with "Secrets" which is a usual frenetic guitar ride typical of the punk dogma, but right away you realize there's something different: the three-part harmony is at least innovative. But this is only the beginning: "Train" presents a complex underlying harmony that makes it difficult to talk about "punk". Similarly, it's even harder to discuss "Trem Two", which brings the trio closer to psychedelia and raga, while Miller's and Conley's voices are unusually relaxed, calm, without any brutality. The atmosphere is, thus, serene and everything seems crafted to quell any kind of emotion. The resulting effect is highly estranging: our heroes seem like three bored guys observing the incessant passage of time, lost in their thoughts.
Things change with "New Nails", which is nonetheless a very cultured exercise. Pervaded by a sinister tremor, this track presents a sudden evolution, full of electronically manipulated voices and distorted samples. "Dead Pool" returns to a relaxed state; the melody seems to gradually wilt like a leaf on the ground, and simultaneously the main theme is characterized by an imperceptible melancholy, by a certain nostalgia that rediscover the Californian rock of David Crosby. All this to say that, right from the first tracks, the album appears as a brilliant mine of quotations and bold experiments. After the crescendo chaos of "Learn How", "Mica" resumes the theme of catchiness, with simultaneously simple yet chaotic riffs. Miller's vocal performance persists in remaining serenely detached, driven by an almost childlike enthusiasm. Where have the rebellion chants and anarchic slogans so typical of early hardcore gone? Here the only remaining element seems to be existential anxiety, although a completely different anxiety than that of a Johnny Rotten or a Derby Crash.
"Weather Box" is one of the many treasures in the collection: the disjointed and deconstructed structure reminds one of the most zany performances by Devo. It's a march for androids contaminated by a certain jazz taste. (Jazz is one of the essential underlying elements of their art). "No Einstein" is characterized by a certain solemnity, accented by Miller's singing, which, even though estranging and meowing, aims at magniloquence. In the end, guitar, and bass counterpoints fade the whole thing, giving it an emotional disorientation attribute. "Fun World" is the song that most recalls the Minutemen, and their funk-jazz contaminated hardcore. In its own way, however, it is one of the most "punk" performances of the entire lot.
It almost seems like a joke "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate": the initial part is determined and vigorous from an instrumental point of view, with a magnificently revolving bass, but then, in the chorus, who doesn't think of Japanese cartoon theme songs? (!) Next comes "Forget", one of the most beautiful pieces, with a decidedly catchy and slightly "romantic" refrain. These are the moments that ultimately make us talk about a "turning point" compared to the underground scene of the early decade. And the long final tail of "Progress" is a worthy conclusion to an epochal and undoubtedly "breakthrough" album, an album that did not enjoy much commercial success, but it's just as well that way!
Works of art, we know, are never adequately understood by the masses.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Secrets (03:22)
It's not just a blink
Or the following of an arm
And it isn't just a flicker
No it isn't just a flicker
Oh, there's a look in your eyes
That you can't explain
Oh, there's a look in your eyes
And when it slips through the rain
Oh, there's a criss-crossed thinking
No it's not just a blink)
There's a ...?
(No it's not just a blink)
From the house to...?
(No it's not just a blink)
....(?)
(No it isn't just a flicker)
There's a look in your eyes and...?
It's the pulling of the undertow
When you can't control the wheel
It's not just a blink
Or the following of an arm
No it isn't just a flicker
No it isn't just a flicker
There's a look in your eyes
That you can't explain
There's a look in your eyes
And it slips through the rain
Underneath the gaze
Underneath the gaze
Underneath the guise
Underneath the guise
Underneath the gaze
Underneath the guise
Underneath it goes away
02 Train (03:31)
Making sense of all the hidden facts
Hit and run that's the way...?
Sickened by the...?
Getting nowhere
Getting nowhere
How can you pretend to give a fuck?
How can you pretend to give a fuck?
If nothing seems to matter at all
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................?
Find another way
Show me
Show me
Find another way
Show me
Show me
So far away
So far away
When I think...?
So far away
When I think...?
It's..................?
......carry me away show me my.....? x 5
Show me
03 Trem Two (04:10)
The face at the window
The features I know
I try to escape but
The world is too slow
The question is big
The question is wide
I can't see around it
I see only one side
I hid from the heavens
The heaviest sleep
Deserve the unwanted
When love is so deep
Now I was touching you
The pleasures are past
And now there is only
The houses we pass
The dreams are all melting
Only to reform
Outside the heavens
Where thoughts are reborn
Where thoughts are reborn
Where thoughts are reborn
04 New Nails (03:00)
There was once a special book
It got changed by fascist crooks
(Save me please for I am weak)
There once was a great idea
Now they water it down to fizz
(Save me please for I am weak)
(Save me please for I'm a sheep)
Well I suppose it's human nature,
But when he said,
Don't make an idol of me
Don't make an idol of me
Don't make an idol of me
The Roman Empire never died
(Save me I am not a goat)
It just changed into the Catholic Church
(Dionysis has cloven hooves)
The Roman Empire never died
(Devil horns are not on me, save me I am not a goat)
ha ha ha ha
But when he said,
Don't make an idol of me
Don't make an idol of me
Don't make an idol of me
Plastic idols of me
Plaster idols of me
Don't make an idol of me
He said,
Well I walk the shores of Galilee
(Walk the shores of Galilee)
Where only the Spirit can talk to me
He said,
Well I walk the shores of Galilee
On the desert sands and no one can touch me
(Don't touch me no don't!)
Oh No
Oh No
Oh No
Oh No
What's this?
All these crimes
Committed in my name
Oh, well
05 Dead Pool (04:05)
Had the choice but lost my chance
Heard a voice and changed my stance
All I needed was a clue
Had enough of golden rules
Now the days are open wounds
All I needed was a clue
Find a way to turn things back
What never happened seems to last
Where did things go wrong?
Where did things go wrong?
Where did things go wrong?
Where did things go wrong?
06 Learn How (03:56)
Every raw material at hand
Remember all the things you said you'd do?
..........................................?
What happens next?
What happens now?
What happens next?
And the need for a book....?
Conditioned by steps...
One
Two
Three
Four
Often seems that opportunity knocks
When the door is bolted
The door is locked
The door is bolted
And the door is locked
Don't take me by the hand
Don't take me by the hand
Don't take me by the hand
Don't take me by the hand
Don't take me by the hand
Don't take me by the hand
The tools of the trade are the head and the heart
And the joke I know
And the joke I know
And the joke I know
What I will be when I grow up
If I grow up
When I grow up
Throw away the brainwash
Throw away the brainwash
Throw away the brainwash
(And I give up)
Don't give up
(And I give up)
Don't give up
(And I give up)
Don't give up
Don't give in
Learn how!
Learn how!
Learn how!
Learn how!
Learn how!
Every raw material at hand
Every raw material at hand
Every raw material in your hand
07 Mica (03:34)
Then she says
Why...?
If you feel like a patient why not dress like one?
Then she says
Why can't I sleep?
Between...and white sheets for three days
and sink down deeper than dreams
Oh, I'd love that
I'd be a mineral deposit
A ball of mica inside a rock
I'd be a mineral deposit
A ball of mica inside a rock
Then there'd be no whistles, no radios
No screens
Then there'd be no whistles, no radios
No screens
Then she says
Why...?
If you feel like a patient why not dress like one?
Then she says
Why can't I sleep?
Between...and white sheets for three days
and sink down deeper than dreams
What could I say to that?
What could I say to that?
What could I say to that?
What could I say to that?
What could I say to that?
What could I say to that?
08 Weatherbox (03:29)
Every man thinks he does what he can
Then he...?and he's holding the weatherbox
Every night...?
Then he...?and he's holding the weatherbox
Holding the weatherbox
Holding the weatherbox
Sun is falling down
Sky is falling down
Seasons falling down
Air is falling down
Falling...
The air is round and the world is flat
And everything is clearly impossible
Clearly impossible
Inside the weatherbox
Inside the weatherbox
Inside the weatherbox
Inside the weatherbox
Inside the weatherbox
Inside the weatherbox
09 The Ballad of Johnny Burma (02:00)
I said my mother's dead
But I don't care about it
I said my father's dead
But I don't care about it
It happens anyway
It happens anyway
I'm on the edge of Burma
We're on the edge of Burma
I said my baby twists
She twists the night away
I swear she twists so good
And then she turned to me
And then she turned to me
And then I heard her say
"Well, that's the way I like it
that's the way I like it
I like it too much."
10 Einstein's Day (04:33)
Chairs next to the windows
Carpets touch the halls
Time slides through the windows
And slips behind the walls
In the dark of night
Or in the light of day
Underneath the painting
Where it once was clear
Well I was rolled in water
I was rolled out past the pier
In the tray of colors
The whirlwind appears
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