Customer Reviews

Peking Spring

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In July of 1979 a brand new Boston band entered the studio for the first time, with Peter Dayton of local stalwarts La Peste (check out their CD) behind the board. Clint Conley's "Peking Spring" was such a massive hit on college radio that the band was headlining weekends (and opening for the Gang of Four) at local punk club the Rat by that autumn.

This CD really came about by accident. Local label Taang! compiled an album of Burma songs that had never been released in any form (FORGET). As a teaser, they released the title track as an EP -- with some non-LP bonus tracks. Those tracks were studio demo versions (see my review of FORGET for the details) of songs that had appeared only on Burma's live album, THE HORRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT BURMA. The EP was such a success that it was expanded into a full-blown album, which ironically has outshone the album that spawned it.

The heart of this album (tracks 3-8) are the half-dozen songs the band wrote after VS. was recorded that were featured on THE HORRIBLE TRUTH. Only "Dirt" matches or eclipses its live counterpart, but the songs are mostly great, and these are all worthy alternates (as is "Nu Disco," which was a very early song that was revived for the live album). "Foreign Country," the only song here that appears nowhere else in the Burma catalog, was Peter Prescott's first Burma composition and is interesting but not essential.

So why buy this? It's the first two tracks, that first demo. The chorus to "Peking Spring" has an overdubbed guitar part with an entirely different chord progression (which was in fact Clint Conley's original draft of the chorus); although the HORRIBLE TRUTH version has much wilder playing, this production touch is just magical. And the demo of Roger Miller's "This Is Not a Photograph" -- also a sizeable hit at the time -- features some great stereo effects that make up for the less powerful sound (the version on SIGNALS, CALLS, AND MARCHES, like most of that EP, is nearly in mono).

Unbelievably thrilling and creative, this set of tunes has it all. While it may sound chaotic at first, you'll soon realize that the buzzsaw guitar noise, frantic harmonies, pounding ryhthms, and sudden changes of direction and speed converge to create music that is incredibly catchy. The interaction between the band members is fantastic, and there are some weird tape loops within the mix to keep things really interesting. I've had the album for 10 years, and it is definately one of my faves.

I first heard this record 8 years ago at the behest of a friend. I have since collected everything by this band, and the after groups, that I can get my hands on. I'm amazed that they don't rule over our musical heritage. Put simply, they rock. Mission of Burma is a WONDER.