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| Peter Prescott, Clint Conley, Roger Miller (not that one) |
Mission Of Burma was tremendously influential but commercially unsuccessful in their first incarnation. Their 21st century reunion saw them playing to larger audiences, as well as releasing four albums of new material. There's also an excellent documentary film about Burma's reunion.
Few would say the new albums were as astonishing as Vs. (the only LP from the band's first run). But there are individual songs that equal the brilliance of Vs. When I saw Burma in concert, I was just as excited to hear "2wice" (for example) as "Trem Two".
A few years ago, I did an Imaginary Compilation Album on MoB's comeback for The Vinyl Villain blog (which includes some history of the band). Today's share is an expanded set that adds several cover songs. A couple of excellent b-sides are also included.
During their tours, Burma paid tribute to their punk influences and their contemporaries from the 80's. Penelope Houston joined them onstage in SF to sing an Avengers song; Vanessa from Pylon did the same in Atlanta; and Burma covered political punk songs by The Dils, The Dicks, and The Wipers. MoB's final release was a Metz cover for a 2016 split single.
Roger Miller continues to compose, perform and record as a solo artist and with Trinary System. Peter Prescott is the singer/guitarist of Minibeast. Clint Conley appears to have retired from music. I still enjoy the Consonant albums (Clint's band with guitarist Chris Brokaw and Bedhead drummer Matt Kadane). Bob Weston (who assumed Martin Swope's offstage role in the reunited Burma) most recently played bass on the final Shellac album. I'm glad that Burma "got their flowers" (as the kids say these days), and equally glad to have the music they made between 2004 and 2016.
CORRECTION: I'm pleased to report that Clint is playing bass in the Chris Brokaw Rock Band, which will perform August 30 at Dromfest in the Catskills!
Please enjoy https://tinyurl.com/Burma2-0
ReplyDeleteA reunion may seem like a cash grab, or an attempt to relive old glories. Who were you happy to see reunite? Did they make any new music that you enjoyed as much as their old stuff? Did it "hit different" (as the young folks say) to see and hear an artist again when you and they were significantly older?
Thanks Jonder -- I f'n love Mission of Burma! They would be one of the bands I would compare my own 80s college band to though obliquely rather than directly (like MoB we didn't really sound much like anyone really). Wish I could have seen the recent Pavement reunion tour but not surprisingly they didn't bother coming to Florida.
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing about Burma -- they didn't sound like anyone else, although they were sometimes called an American version of Wire (another band who has made some great records after reuniting).
DeleteI'm super bummed that I didn't get to see Redd Kross this year. I attended a family reunion that was planned many months ago, so I was in New England while RK was playing in the South.
Thanks for MOB. I can't recall having ever seen any reunited bands... Perhaps they were so awful that I had the experience erased from my memory?!
ReplyDeleteI have shared a bit of the Alley Cats/Zarkons over at NSS. In 2015 when Randy Stodola restarted the trio, he contacted me & invited me to a show they were doing in San Francisco. It was actually great to hear all the Alley Cats greatest & some new material along with tasty covers. Randy is the only original member, but his guitar playing was still top notch. Apryl Cady plays bass & sings. Though she is definitely no Dianne Chai (no one could be), she did an admiral job on the Chai parts & her bass work was great. Matt Laskey rounded out the trio on drums. It was a most enjoyable show. Got to talk with Randy after the show & reminisce about the early days of LA punk. Very kool.
ReplyDeleteOne of the last shows I saw before Covid shut things down was the 2019 40th anniversary reunion of Flipper (again in S.F.). The 2019 incarnation of the band consists of Steve DePace, Ted Falconi, & David Yow (Scratch Acid - Jesus Lizard vox) with Rachel Thoele (of Frightwig) playing bass at the show I saw. Of course no Will Shatter, but Steve & Ted were original & along with Yow & Thoele, the entire show was damn exciting. Not as crazy as Shatter/Bruce Loose era but really good time.
That's really cool! Randy Stodola is a great player. I'm very happy that I got to see Mission of Burma, the Slits, Radio Birdman, Wire, and Television. Also enjoyed seeing FLAG (with Keith, Chuck, Dez and Bill Stevenson).
DeleteLooks great, Jonder! Threre's another entry in your 2.0 series: THE WHITE ANIMALS have reunited! - Stinky
ReplyDelete