Pitchfork

Mission of Burma are on a mission for Burma. Though it may lack the glamour of a Belushian "mission from god", the Boston post-punk legends' latest calling has the virtue of being for a righteous cause: calling attention to the military junta-led mass killings going on in the country officially known as Myanmar. If this is news to you, consider the plight of those misfortunate enough to be ruled by fascist regimes that don't control massive oil reserves. (Actually, looking at the ongoing headlines from Iraq, maybe having oil doesn't make for a much better plight.) To do something about the Burmese turmoil, Mission of Burma did what many bands, not all as awesome as they, have done in the three-and-a-half decades since George Harrison's famous Concert for Bangladesh. They held a benefit show.

A sell-out crowd was on hand at Boston's Great Scott for Mission of Burma's Burma benefit, with proceeds going to the U.S. Campaign for Burma/Human Rights Action Center in Massachusetts. Lucky for us, The Boston Phoenix was there too, equipped with video cameras to record the event. After getting back together a few years ago for a reunion tour and going on to record two excellent new albums, the veteran band still sounds in great form here in a version of their classic "Academy Fight Song", as the crowd pogos along. The track from their debut 7" is among those set to be reissued in March with the band's 1981 Signals, Calls, and Marches EP and reissues of their other 1980s output. "I'm not judging you, I'm judging me," bassist Clint Conley shouts. Head over to the Phoenix's blog to see clips of two other songs; they're also promising to post one of four new, as-yet-unrecorded Mission of Burma songs from the benefit, so stay tuned.

 

[from the Signals, Calls, and Marches EP; due as a reissue 03/18/08 on Matador]