Mars

At long last, here it is, the complete recorded catalog of the New York quartet Mars. Long regarded as simply one of the groups Brian Eno recorded for his No New York compilation, Mars were so much more, and so much less. They were, at both birth and demise, a true expression of New York's Lower East Side underground. There are 11 songs here, totaling just over 31 minutes, recorded in 1977 and 1978; they are, in the end, just enough. All of it has been released before. That said, the tracks on Mars LP sound markedly different from the earlier released versions: it seems the original master tape had been badly damaged by a flood but was released on vinyl -- and later CD -- anyway; the tracks on this disc come from an all but totally forgotten cassette copy of the undamaged, pre-flood master. (This is, for all practical purposes, reason enough for anyone interested in the band or the period.) The other tunes come from the band's original single ("3E" b/w "11,000 Volts"), which was supposed to be issued on Patti Smith's Mer imprint but came out first as a 7" on France's Rebel, and later as a 12" on Ze, and the tracks from the Eno-produced compilation. The original quartet featured the late guitarist Sumner Crane, the late Nancy Arlen on drums, bassist Mark Cunningham, and guitarist China Burg (aka Lucy Hamilton). This disc was compiled, assembled, produced, and adorned by the two surviving members of Mars with excellent notes, session details, and a brief yet psychically charged testimony from Lydia Lunch in the liners. She should know. She was there! Unlike some of the other acts on the no wave scene, Mars didn't need to become more experimental as the '80s hit, because they knew enough to disappear before all the pretension set in. They were the thing itself from inception; they were the New York sound from the underground linking the lineage from the Velvets to Suicide. Two of the band's members had to learn how to play -- i.e., were self-taught -- just to be in the band. But that didn't stop them; they began rehearsing anyway. What is surprising is that the development of Mars' sound over that crazy year is startling, revelatory, yet somehow static. They simply became more "themselves" with each recording. All that can ultimately be said of this shambolic and deeply purposed scree, holler, tension, youthful noise, and celebration is that it is original, visionary, has never been equaled, and never will be. It is as much rock & roll as it is art. It is as much the death of rock as it is the death of art. It is necessary. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide