How do you explain?

The other night, Jennifer and I went to see Wire and it was awesome. They sounded great, even at over 50 years old. Page Hamilton came on stage for their second encore and played guitar, which was just as exciting for him as it was for the Helmet fans in the audience (probably me and two other dudes).

Anyways, Jennifer and I were having a discussion about the post punk bands that were reuniting and playing the Echo. Besides Wire, the other most influential post punk band, Mission of Burma, had just played a show at the Echo. I was a bit sad that I missed it and Jennifer told me that she had never really listened to them before. She then asked me what they sounded like, to which I responded, "post punk" and she asked me how they were different from Wire, to which I said, "God, I don't know. I guess they're more American because they're from Boston." It took me a few days to suss out exactly how to quantify that, and all I've got so far is that they have less dance beats and they owe less to Can and more to Black Flag. Also, they surfaced a few years after Wire and they have more hooks.

So the epic question of the day is "What is the difference between Wire and Mission of Burma?" I know it's like comparing apples and bloody philosophy term papers, but post punk is still narrow enough for this question to make some sense.

Mission of Burma - "That's When I Reach For My Revolver"


Wire - The 15th


bonus: REM covering Mission of Burma's "Academy Fight Song"


Minor Threat covering Wire's "12xu" (one of the greatest covers of any song ever)


ps. When will you do a Mission of Burma cover, Ted Leo?