I mentioned a few posts ago what my favorite EPs of all-time were; well, here's my favorite "extended play" album, ever. Eight songs and 27-minutes of post-punk fury; not a single filler on here. Mission Of Burma exploded onto the Boston club scene in 1979, playing louder than anyone else (guitarist Roger Miller suffered from such extreme tinnitus that it led to the band's eventual hiatus, from 1983 until reforming in 2002).
In between "gigs" Miller and Martin Swope (tape manipulator/sound engineer) would go on to form Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic (I've uploaded their 1984 album Magnetic Flip here), while drummer Peter Prescott was busy with his Volcano Suns project and bassist Clint Conley would produce the first Yo La Tengo record, then get a master's degree in broadcast journalism and work as a TV producer at a local Boston station.
So, MoB version1.0 would feature one EP, one full-length (1982's Vs.) and a posthumous live album (1985's The Horrible Truth About Burma). Then almost 20 years pass by and they reform (sans Swope), putting out three more records and in the process erasing any doubt that they still aren't able to totally rock.
So enjoy this classic EP from the finest American band to call it quits, then let two decades lapse before they plugged it back in...
