Album: Vs.
Artist: Mission of Burma

by Andrew Kastikas

It seems that punk music fans often need justification for their tastes. When expressing their affinity for the genre, they're met with criticism from many music fans. They complain of the music's seemingly inherent immaturity and lack of technicality, but these are all misconceptions. What better band to justify this standpoint, and punk music in general, than Mission of Burma's "Vs."? MOB created one of the better albums of the 1980's, and they certainly created the best album to come out of the Boston area in the said time.

As with most worthwhile music, Burma's sound is hard to define. Many different musical reviewers have labeled it numerous times, but a sound and whole definition is always just out of reach. While listening, it becomes quite obvious why they are such a hard band to define. Their roots can be seen in the works of The Stooges, and other proto-punk bands, but they brought something meaningful and extremely original to the genre. "Vs." did things that The Buzzcocks and Ramones (while superb bands) never dreamed of doing. The music itself can switch from comforting melodies to screeching cacophony within seconds, but even more often, the band will abandon all transition and combine the two simultaneously.

They waste no time showing off this technique, as the first track of the album, "Secrets", builds up a pressure that is so frighteningly intense, it seems the only way out for the band is in total abandon. The drummer pounds a beat that doesn't match the rest of the players, the entire band starts screaming, and just when you start to think they've lost it entirely, they suddenly snap out of their catatonia and flawlessly continue the song, sans the musical and mental abrasion.

The lyrics of the album are much more intelligent and mature than Burma's punk contemporaries, and they add to the urgent tone the instruments already create. One example comes from the album's fourth track, "New Nails", which reads "There once was a special book, it got changed by Fascist crooks, save me please for I am weak" and shows both the controversial and intelligent side of MOB's lyrics. These lyrics, and others that appear throughout the album, show a blatant dissatisfaction with much of the status quo and society's problems. The only flaw of this album also keeps me from citing more lyrics, as they are often difficult to decipher due to the relentless drumming and heavily distorted guitars that accompany the vocals.

Mission of Burma not only contributes to the fact that talent is more than an anomaly in punk music, but they also provide an amazing sonic experience for the listener. Burma was a unique, emotional, exciting, and undoubtedly amazing band. They shattered the rules of punk, spawned legions of unequal imitators, and changed the conception of the genre forever. It is certainly worth adding to anyone's music collection, both for justification of one's taste in punk rock and for the sheer brilliance one of the greatest albums of the 80's.