Review: Mission of Burma's The Sound The Speed The Light

In a lot of ways, Mission of Burma's latest LP reminds me of Superchunk's Leaves in the Gutter EP, released earlier this year. Although the Chapel Hill indie rock band has never seen an album reach quite the level of critical acclaim as the Boston band (and comparing Superchunk to a Matador release is mildly heretical), both bands are are storied. And on their third post-reunion album, Burma is doing exactly what Superchunk did earlier this year: churning out classic tracks and reminding us why we ever liked them in the first place.

To be fair to both bands, neither was quite "churning out" tracks. But neither album charts new territory. And that's totally fine. After all, why would we care about a post-punk band 30 years after their formation if they never gave us a reason to care in the first place?

And that said, Mission of Burma's The Sound The Speed The Light is a great release. Twelve tracks, just over 41 minutes, all of the top quality. Here is the working man's album. The band is on with every song, energetic and enjoyable as they were during the Reagan administration. From opener "1,2,3 Partyy!" (it sounds like you think it would) to "So F-- It" and "Good Cheer" all the way to the closing "Slow Faucet," Roger Miller and co. hit nary a stray note.

So what's wrong? In effect, nothing. Mission of Burma is as good as they were in their two-studio-LPs 1980s. Even with a 19-year hiatus, they show no signs of slowing down. As mentioned earlier, they don't sound the same per se, but the band is doing what they've always done--and it's what it's good at. This is classic Mission of Burma, classic post-punk. Who cares if they aren't charting new territory? The Sound The Speed The Light is better than 90 percent of the junk released today. If only we were so lucky to have every band be as consistent and hard working as Mission of Burma.

Image courtesy of Courtesy Matador Records