About
Post-punk big shots Mission of Burma formed in Boston in 1979. Guitarist Roger Miller, bassist Clint Conley and drummer Peter Prescott revitalized the Boston scene with a complicated, previously unheard mixture of Gang of Four and the Stooges, playing legendarily loud (and unpredictable) shows up and down the east coast. They scored a local hit on the radio with "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" and today their music remains some of the very first stirrings of what was to become "indie rock." The band stood apart from virtually every other act in the US at the time, due in part to both Miller's and Conley's backgrounds in classical music and their use of tape loops in songs and during live performances. Mission of Burma broke up just as they began to make a large national impact, mainly as a result of Miller's increasing hearing loss. Miller went on to form the more sedate Birdsongs of the Mesozoic while Prescott formed the big guitar psych metal band Volcano Suns, and later Kustomized. In 2002, Prescott, Miller and Conley reunited Mission of Burma for a tour and ended up resuming recording, releasing OnoffOn in 2004 and Aluminum Washcloth in 2006.
- Mike McGuirk
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