Pitchfork

My little brother (God bless him) recently rapped upon my door to inform me of his latest musical discovery: "They're this new band called Mission of Burma. They came out with this album this year called OnOffOn and it's a totally balls-to-the-wall punk-rock explosion in your motherfucking earbones!" He's sort of right, except that part about them being new and stuff. But this encounter further underscored one important thing: Mission of Burma's newly resurrected bad self, after nearly 20 years of hibernation, has clearly made an extraordinary comeback, comparable perhaps only to Christ himself. I complimented my brother on his enthusiasm, chastised his ignorance, and let him burn my copy of Vs.. Then I watched as he located Burma in a world atlas, realizing that he knew more about geography than I did, and that that was probably somewhat more admirable than my music trivia obsessing.

Much like 70s post-punks Wire, Mission of Burma's virtually seamless re-entry into generation Y's musical lexicon-- combined with an avid touring schedule akin to the newly resurrected Pixies-- has proved a flawless transition, and, as I learned, they're now positioned to burn another scar into the mind of the public. After Rykodisc's unauthorized, disastrous near-release of Accomplished: The Best of Mission of Burma last spring, the label has set things right with the band and apparently prepared a new and improved best-of compilation in conjunction with the band and the owner of their former label, Ace of Hearts. Titled A Gun to the Head, the disc consists of tunes from their early 80s releases. With 16 tracks guiding fans from the renowned "Academy Fight Song" to the closing live recording of "Go Fun Burn Man", this latest Burma compilation is expected to hit stores on September 14th. Tracklist:

01 Academy Fight Song
02 That's When I Reach for My Revolver
03 Fame and Fortune
04 This Is Not a Photograph
05 All World Cowboy Romance
06 Trem Two
07 Learn How
08 Dead Pool
09 Mica
10 Weatherbox
11 Fun World
12 That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
13 Einstein's Day
14 The Ballad of Johnny Burma
15 Peking Spring (live)
16 Go Fun Burn Man (live)

Additionally, the band have announced yet another small handful of North American tour dates in support of OnOffOn, to begin in October. And they read like this:

10-03 Montreal, Quebec - Pop Montreal Festival
10-14 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-15 Atlanta, GA - Echo Lounge
10-22 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
10-23 Chicago, IL - Metro
12-13 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom