The Mission – Dum-Dum Bullet
SPV Records
The Mission has had a long career that dates back to 1986 when the band formed out of former members of Sisters of Mercy. For the ten years that followed, The Mission put out a whole slew of sort of gothic influenced rock records and enjoyed a pretty good career until disbanding in 1996. In recent years another new lineup got together to keep the band going until The Mission once again disbanded two years ago.
Dum-Dum Bullet is a collection of B-sides, demos, and unreleased tracks from the final era of the band and their last release, God is a Bullet. A couple of the songs aren’t actually Mission songs but demos from Mission member Wayne Hussey. The music on this album all falls into the hard-edged alternative pop/rock category. The songs are melodic and mid-tempo with some good hooks and interesting arrangements. There are some really catchy tunes on the album, as well as a couple of tracks that definitely sound more like b-sides or demos in the way that they just aren’t as strong as some of the other tracks on the album.
Longtime Mission fans will likely find some solid substance in this album as a sort of final chapter to close out a lengthy career from these UK veterans. New fans will likely want to start elsewhere to see what the band was all about, and if you enjoy what you heard, especially the more recent stuff, you will likely find a few of the tracks on Dum-Dum Bullet to be up your alley.
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Great band-I did get to see them once in DC around 2002. I wish that they had done a farewell US tour a couple years ago.