This Is Not A Photograph: Mission of Burma at the Mohawk [Show Preview]

Mission of Burma w/ Ume and Daniel Francis Doyle at the Mohawk
Friday, July 22
Mohawk (912 Red River Street)
$17, 9pm, outside
[info] | [tickets]

The career arc of Mission of Burma reads like a music critic’s failed screenplay: A group of Boston music vets—with a noted affinity for experimental composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen—form a punk band that toils in relative obscurity, releasing a few singles, an EP, and a hell of a debut album before breaking up due to the guitarist’s painful tinnitus. This could have been the band’s epitaph, but thanks to reunion tours, a cult following, and the internet, Mission of Burma have now been elevated to Important Band Status—and rightly so. Now a new generation gets to rub elbows with those original fans and that original sound ~~tonight~~ Friday at the Mohawk.

In the early '80s, Boston was a bit of a musical backwater. Any remotely artsy underground band was sucked into the NYC black hole, and scenes were born or died accordingly. Mission of Burma stuck around (naming themselves for the diplomatic mission in New York) and proceeded to put Boston on the punk map. Guitarist Roger Miller and bassist Clint Conley formed the group in 1979, but it wasn’t until they found a kindred spirit in Martin Swope that the band really took off artistically. Swope was recruited as their live audio engineer, adding avant-garde tape effects to their live shows before becoming a full-fledged contributor in his own right.

1981 saw the release of their debut EP, Signals, Calls, and Marches, Mission of Burma’s thesis statement. Their sound was solidified: Miller’s noisier tendencies (the psychotic disco of “Outlaw”) balanced against Conley’s anthemic knack (“That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” and “Academy Fight Song”), with Swope bubbling up in the background. 1983’s full-length Vs. proved to be the band’s magnum opus and heyday swan song as the band’s frenetic live shows pushed Miller’s tinnitus to the brink. Mission of Burma broke up, but their torch was carried on by Sonic Youth, Pixies, and Nirvana. In retrospect, it’s hard to imagine post-punk without Burma; Michael Azzerad seemed to think so, devoting an entire chapter to the band in his influential book Our Band Could Be Your Life. In 2002, the band reunited to recreate their legendary live shows. They’ve even gone back to the studio, releasing three well-received albums with another in the works.

A pair of loud-as-hell local acts get the honor of opening up the night. Ume show off their raucous dynamics ahead of the August 30 release of their new album, Phantoms. Singer/guitarist Lauren Langner Larson is a sight to behold live, thrashing her guitar while the distortion builds around. In the whiplash department, she’s got nothing on Daniel Francis Doyle, a one-man wall-of-sound who sets up intricate guitar loops before jumping behind his drum kit to bash (and nasally wail) away. If there’s one message you should take away from this preview, it’s this: BRING YOUR EARPLUGS.

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Mission of Burma: [official] [myspace]
Ume: [official] [bandcamp]
Daniel Francis Doyle: [official] [myspace]