''Signals, Calls, and Marches'' is an EP and the debut release by American

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

Mission of Burma Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller (rock musician), Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass guitar, bass, Peter Prescott (musician), Peter Prescott on drum k ...

. It was released in 1981 by record label Ace of Hearts.

Content

The album's first track is " That's When I Reach for My Revolver," which features a singable, anthemic chorus that helped make it one of the band's most popular songs. Though Mission of Burma's live performances were characterized by noise and chaos, ''Signals, Calls, and Marches'' has a notably "cleaner" sound in comparison to the band's live performances and subsequent recordings. Marc Masters of

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

called this different sound "somewhat misrepresentative" of the band, as " roducer RichardHarte's production cleaned up the band's brutally loud live sound." Guitarist

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits " King of the Road", "Dang Me", and " England Swing ...

noted that the sound probably helped the band become more accessible, recalling:

We played a show in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
('81 or '82) and we were on the street in front of the club. A girl came up to us and said how much she was looking forward to the show, and that she loved "That's When I Reach for My Revolver". We thought we were golden. However, once we started playing, people backed up against the wall and after the first song did not applaud or respond to us one bit, even after we started heckling them. Even when we played "Revolver". So, it is quite probably true that the "mild-mannered" recording we made on ''Signals'' reached more people than if we recorded it in a more furious or noisy fashion.

Release

''Signals, Calls, and Marches'' was released in August 1981 by record label Ace of Hearts. Upon its release in 1981, the record was immediately popular in the Boston area, charting at number six on local radio station WBCN's charts. The EP sold out its initial printing of ten thousand copies before the end of the year. For the CD reissue,

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

remastered the six original songs and added the two tracks from the band's 1980 debut 7" single, " Academy Fight Song" and "Max Ernst". The EP was remastered by

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

in 2008 with video material and two previously unreleased songs from their first recording session.

Reception

''Signals, Calls, and Marches'' has been well received by critics. In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

stated that "if Mission of Burma were not yet at the peak of their form, most bands blazing as many trails as this one did lost their footing a lot more often that Burma did on these six songs; ''Signals, Calls and Marches'' was as accomplished and impressive a debut as any American band would release in the 1980s." Marc Masters of ''

'' called it "impeccable" and "probably the best Mission of Burma release ever."

Legacy

''Signals, Calls, and Marches'' is considered an immensely influential landmark in the field of

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

. Mark Deming of

wrote, "One could argue that 'Signals, Calls, and Marches''was the point where indie rock as a separate and distinct musical subgenre well and truly began. Mission of Burma's music had the brawn and the volume of hardcore punk, but with a lyrical intelligence and obvious musical sophistication that set them apart from the Southern California faster-and-louder brigade." Marc Masters of ''Pitchfork'' opined that the EP "reverberated loudly through alternative rock for three decades, influencing everyone from

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

." ''Pitchfork'' ranked it the 53rd greatest album of the 1980s.

Track listing

Personnel

Mission of Burma * Martin Swope – loops, percussion, cover and sleeve design * Clint Conley – bass guitar, vocals, percussion, cover and sleeve design *

– guitar, vocals, piano, trumpet, percussion, cover and sleeve design * Peter Prescott – drums, vocals, percussion, cover and sleeve design Technical * Richard W. Harte –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

* John Kiehl –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Holly Anderson – cover and sleeve design * Neal Trousdale – sleeve photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1981 EPs Mission of Burma albums Rykodisc EPs Post-punk EPs Art punk EPs Fire Records (UK) EPs 1981 debut EPs