Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is an American musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1980. The music of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is almost entirely instrumental, and incorporates many different musical elements; critic Rick Anderson writes, "Very few bands have ever managed to straddle the worlds of modern classical music and rock as successfully as this one did." In his liner notes for their Beat of the Mesozoic EP, Boston rock critic Eric Van dubbed them "the world's hardest-rocking chamber music quartet." Another memorable description came from Jim Sullivan of the Boston Globe: "classical-punk-jazz-car-wreck music." Band history Origins Birdsongs owes its origins to the 1978 breakup of the Boston post-punk band Moving Parts, which included Erik Lindgren (vocals, keyboards) and Roger Miller (vocals, guitar). Miller went on to form the seminal post-punk group Mission of Burma (1979–1983; 2002–present), while Lindgren concentrated on production work in his home recording studio. While the Parts' breakup had been civil, Lindgren felt the need for an act of overt reconciliation, and in late 1980, he offered free studio time to his former bandmate should Miller have any non-Burma material he wanted to record. Miller had just written his first solo piano pieces in years, and jumped at the offer. Lindgren volunteered to provide some keyboard overdubs. Given that musical differences had led to the breakup of their earlier band, both musicians were surprised at the effectiveness of the collaboration. Burma tape loop artist Martin Swope was then enlisted for further overdub work on electric guitar. The recording project might have ended there had not Boston's Modern Method record label approached Miller and asked for a Burma track for a compilation album. Miller instead offered "Pulse Piece" from the sessions, naming the makeshift group "Birdsongs of the Mesozoic," a reference to a Birdsongs of America album that Swope had sampled during the sessions and to then-new theories about the dinosaur ancestry of birds (Miller having been a dinosaur aficionado as a young child). The Mesozoic era covered the period of roughly 66 million years ago to 248 million years ago, and is sometimes called the "age of dinosaurs." The band created a Pterosaur silhouette as a logo, which they still use as of 2007, in a slightly modified version. Birdsongs established and performs live Nothing further might have come from the project had not Modern Method also asked Miller if Birdsongs could perform