Mission of Burma, Kinski & Whysall Lane

Nostalgia was most certainly in the air this night as seminal Boston post-punkers Mission of Burma, 20 years removed from their heyday, brought their triumphant comeback tour into the welcoming confines of San Francisco’s majestic yet comfortable Fillmore. But unlike most nostalgia acts, Mission of Burma have not only a new record, OnOffOn, but a new record that actually makes a contribution and is starkly relevant in the contemporary rock scene. Thus, the audience on hand for the evening’s festivities was a mixture of late-30s old schoolers, bright-eyed youthful spocks and every convention in between.
A refreshing opening set by SF locals Whysall Lane got the evening under way. Fitting in the night’s nostalgic theme, Whysall Lane featured ex-Jawbreaker drummer Adam Pfahler behind the kit, playing more or less the same meat-and-potatoes style that marked his days with the pre-emo legends. Similarly, the band - also featuring Richard Baluyut of Versus on noisy guitar and vocals, as well as a ravishingly nerdy bassist - had a distinctly mid-‘90s college rock vibe. There were also guitar solos.
However, Baluyut’s guitar noodlings seemed like “Chopsticks” compared to the evening’s next act, Seattle zombie rockers Kinski, whose music falls somewhere between cinematic and epic. An instrumental four-piece, consisting of the traditional bass, drums and two guitar format, the members of Kinski nevertheless succeed at wrangling haunting, often jarring, sonic artistry out of their equipment without the use of much more than ingenuity, experience and creativity (with a bit of processed flute now and then for good measure). Playing a mix of new-ish, yet untitled tracks and older stuff from their last formal full-length, Airs Above Your Station, Kinski sounded and appeared to be firing on all cylinders, a notion that was seconded by Kinski drummer Barrett Wilke afterwards. Especially evident in their de facto theme song, “Semaphore,” off both the aforementioned Airs… as well as an earlier EP, was Kinski’s firm grasp of the balance between melodicism and aural experimentation. Doubtlessly, many in the crowd were convinced - with others being previously aware - that Kinski is the finest instrumental indie rock outfit this side of Glasgow.
Be it because of youth or pre-standing bias, Mission of Burma were initially a painful anticlimax to what had proved to be an invigorating night of rock music thus far. Looking their age, but definitely not acting it, Mission of Burma - guitarist Roger Miller, bassist Clint Conley and drummer Roger Prescott, with the added accompaniment of behind-the-scenes sound manipulator / sound engineer / cred piece Bob Weston - all seemed genuinely excited to be on stage again. But the music seemed tepid, especially to those in the crowd not lip-syncingly familiar with the Mission of Burma catalog. It was also interesting to note the special consideration necessitated by Miller’s noted tinnitus, the ear ringing malady that probably contributed to the band’s early demise so long ago: Prescott’s drums were kenneled behind sound deadening baffles, Miller’s amps were situated at the very front of the stage, with him standing behind them with rifleman’s earmuffs on. As the band took an intermission about 45 minutes into what would be a nearly two-hour set, many seemed antsy. But the band returned to the stage with a renewed vigor and seemed to convert even the staunchest doubters. By the time they played “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver,” both crowd and band had reached a fevered pitch. The encore featured Penelope Houston of LA punks of yore The Avengers singing “The American in Me,” a song that fit in rather neatly with Mission of Burma’s political bent (though the band’s “No New McCarthy Era” banner on stage seemed a bit trite). A second encore later and the band was spent, as was the majority of the crowd. All said, an edifying evening of rock featuring three equally meritorious, equally relevant if not totally different facets of the ever-burgeoning independent rock world.
- Words and photo by Daniel Taylor

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