Mars, originally formed as China in 1975, was one of the first no wave bands. Originally starting off as a straight forward Velvet Underground-inspired “homespun NY ‘pop’” (Quote from Mark Cunningham’s liner notes to Mars Rehearsal Tapes), they began to experiment with dissonance in 1977. This was especially led by Sumner Crane. Over time they experimented more and more with all instruments and vocals, involving alternate tunings and a distinct vocal style employed by Constance Burg, aka China Burg. In 1978, they were included on Brian Eno’s No New York compilation, a definitive sampler of no wave bands. They played their last show at Max’s Kansas City in 1978 and then disbanded. However, live and compilation albums continued to be released after the band’s break up.