Mission Of Burma: Unsound

Mission Of Burma
Unsound
Fire Records [2012]

Fire Note Says: Mission of Burma’s 4^th post-reunion lp is their best since Vs.

Album Review:

Since reforming a decade ago, Mission of Burma had crafted two brilliant albums in a row, 2004’s OnOffOn and The Obliterati in 2006 by the time The Sound, The Speed, and The Light came out in 2009, the band was starting to sound a little worn out. That album wasn’t terrible, it was merely pretty good, and for a band of Burma’s stature to put out an lp that was merely pretty good was a bit troubling and had me concerned for their future. Unsound has completely alleviated that concern, because Mission of Burma has bounced back with perhaps the best album of their illustrious career, and if not the best, certainly the best since Vs. [1982]!

All of the trademark sounds are here on Unsound, the crunchy guitar riffs, the time changes, the pounding drums, and the huge bass. What it also adds is aggression, and a lot of it. The band sounds really charged up by these songs. I don’t know why this record has in spades what its predecessor was lacking, perhaps it’s the label change (they left Matador for Fire Records), perhaps it’s the 3 years that have elapsed since the last album, or maybe they too felt like they had something to prove. Whatever the reason, it worked!

“Dust Devil” starts things off by immediately grabbing you by the throat and letting you know that Burma is back, it’s a perfect 2 minute blast of post punk fury. They continue blasting thru tracks leading up to the album’s highlight, “ADD In Unison”. This song sums up Burma’s sound perfectly, it has the guitars, sound loops, long jams, and even a horn section as it leads up to its swirling conclusion. They follow that up with “7’s”, which is another 2 minute explosion of sound and fury.

The whole album is really one long highlight. Mission of Burma is one of only a handful of bands who have done the reunion thing right, with Unsound I feel like they have really shown that their post reunion career has actually been more satisfying artistically than their original, legendary run! That’s saying something. I don’t know that another band can say that!

Key Tracks: “Dust Devil”, “This Is Hi-Fi”, “ADD In Unison”

Bands With Similar Fire:

Gang Of Four

Sonic Youth

Volcano Suns

Mission Of Burma Website
Mission Of Burma Facebook
Fire Records 

-Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter