Simply stated, Mission Of Burma was, and remains, one of the most important American rock bands of the last 20 years. Over the course of their brief four-year career (1979-1983), the band’s sound was a bracing mix of punk, pop, art rock, and avant-garde experimentation.

The Boston quartet’s vocal/guitar/bass/drums/tape manipulation line-up was relentlessly intense and dynamic — arty without being too pretentious. Capable of writing gripping songs and playing with ferocious intensity, guitarist Roger Miller, bassist Clint Conley, drummer Peter Prescott, and tape head Martin Swope laid the foundation for a movement in post-punk rock, and set a standard for excellence rarely equaled.

“Like the Velvets before them, it’s a truism that very few people ever bought a Mission of Burma record — but everybody who did went straight out and started a band,” opined one music critic. Bands such as Superchunk, Jawbox, The Grifters, R.E.M., Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses, Yo La Tengo, Fugazi and Pixies, have tagged Burma as an inspiration.

In its original lineup, Mission of Burma released only one album, Vs. However, the band reformed in 2002, with Bob Weston replacing Swope, and has since recorded three more albums, ONoffON, The Obliterati, and The Sound The Speed The Light.