Mission of Burma vs. The Birthday Party

Mission of Burma
Total votes: 21 (47%)
The Birthday Party
Total votes: 24 (53%)
Total votes: 45

Either-Or: Mission of Burma vs. The Birthday Party

13
alex maiolo wrote:Which records have you heard by them? Some are much better than others. Also, if you haven't seen the Pleasure Heads Must Burn DVD, I can't recommend it enough.


About a year ago, I downloaded a couple of flacs of their live performances plus a couple of Bad Seeds perfs to see if I missed anything. I decided that I didn't.

If you enjoy this kind of stuff, rock on! Seriously, I found nothing to love or hate about either, thus damning them to my sense of musical purgatory. I would not vote for either in a Crap/Not Crap poll. The cheesy comment came from the fact that I don't like cheese, but was purely tongue in cheek.

Either-Or: Mission of Burma vs. The Birthday Party

17
They are two of the only post-punk bands from the early 80's who's records don't sound dated.

I have to go with Mission of Burma though, if only that the Birthday party have a few songs that just bug the fuck out of me, e.g., "Nick the Stripper". There isn't a single Burma song that I find as irritating as that song.
Pure L wrote:I get shocked whenever I use my table saw while barefooted.


I Made Out With You Before You Were Cool
Don't Sit On The Pickets

Either-Or: Mission of Burma vs. The Birthday Party

19
This is a tough one.

MOB's "Vs." is one of the coolest-sounding records I've ever heard, and the songcraft is generally top-notch. Honestly, I find it hard to believe how exquisite the band on this record sounds. Nothing else I've heard by them has interested me nearly as much as that album does, however, so they are riding on thin ice.

TBP is in a similar dilemma! "Junkyard" is an astonishing record, and most of the other stuff is sub-par. That record is as fucking frightening and intimidating as early Swans or early Suicide. However, I've always found "Prayers on Fire" to be wildly overrated, and the final E.P. strays too far into Bad Seeds-territory.

As I said, a tough decision. I'll give the nod to the Birthday Party, though, because "Junkyard" was a seminal influence for several other of my favorite bands: U.S. Maple, Scratch Acid, the Jesus Lizard, Six Finger Satellite and Arab on Radar among them.

Either-Or: Mission of Burma vs. The Birthday Party

20
The only connection I can make between these two bands is that they both are great examples of bass guitar oriented songwriting.

So how do you like your bass?

Clint Conley is a truly inspirational bassist, one of the most interesting EVER. Listen to "trem two," the bass is absolutely perfect on that song. It's perfect... perrrrfect.

Tracy Pew was the coolest guy ever. "Friend Catcher" is where its at. The Birthday Party performance from British TV (top of the pops?) is the best live performance I've ever seen.

Birthday Party win, but MOB are one of my favorite bands for sure. Birthday Party are just so fucking UNREAL. Plus they wrote a song called "Big Jesus Trash Can." I get all giddy just thinking about 'em.

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