Bands from the ‘80s are pissed. Wouldn’t you be if a bunch of ex-hardcore and emo kids hijacked your sound and called it their own? Maybe that’s why such groups as Wire, Television and Mission of Burma are reuniting. It can’t be for the cash, right? In any case, this Friday all the kids under 30 who never got to see Mission of Burma in the band’s heyday can drag their young butts down to the 9:30 Club and watch the aging legends roll out some classic tunes.
Burma’s cohorts and colleagues range from Gang of Four to the Mekons to Peru Ubu. Some of you might even remember a bald, skinny vegan covered one of Burma’s greatest songs, “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver.” And while this might have been exciting back in ‘96, the real Burma is back and Moby is totally played, anyway.
Rumor has it that the recent live appearances in New York and Boston were thrilling. Not only did Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo join the band on stage for an encore performance of “All World Cowboy Romance,” but Burma also unveiled eight new songs.
There’s still at least one lingering question: Is Roger Miller some kind of mad scientist? I mean one that plays with chemicals and shit, ‘cause last anyone checked, the man still had tinnitus, a disease caused by years of exposure to damaging volumes which results in a chronic ringing in the ears. Which, by the way, is why the band broke up in 1983 (Miller has been quoted as saying Burma might have continued if it wasn’t for his debilitating ear problem) and it would seem that 20 years of auditory degeneration would leave the guitarist in no shape to handle live rock. And now that we’re questioning, is anyone else worried about what Shellac’s Bob Weston might do while filling in for original tape master Martin Swope who declined to take part in the reunion? Regardless, there’s no good excuse not to go—not even the cash you have to drop on the ticket.
And while the openers are no raucous ‘80s reunion, the Oxes certainly know how to rock, because that’s actually all they do. The band’s instrumental brand of rock is comparable to The Fucking Champs and Don Caballero, but they are much less into the rolling arpeggios and power chords. Well, what are they? They are best known as part of the Baltimore Rowdy Collective, and judging from their most recent album cover, which showed their most dedicated fans toting posterboards exclaiming “Oxes Suck Coxes,” they are indeed rowdy.
Miller’s ears might not hold on for long, so it’s best to stop practicing air guitar and get your ass to the 9:30 Club this Friday.
The 9:30 Club is located at 815 V St., N.W.
