The Dream Logic is a genre-defying tour de force collective that belongs to the appropriately-named Chaos Music Company label, with controlled chaos being their chosen mode of communication through their music. The band zig-zags out of your grasp, slipping between fingers as soon as you think you have a true hold on them. Unable to be labeled or put in a box, you never know what to expect from this New York-based music collective. With their last full-length release having seen release in 2018 under the name Liquid Sunshine, it was anyone’s guess where the band would venture next. A few singles between then and now, and the band has returned to give us their funky rendition of a classic track in “Cisco Kid.”
The song begins with a wallop of percussive persuasion from noteworthy drummer Camille Gainer; those familiar with the original composition will surely be thrown for a loop, but one they’ll enjoy, as Gainer knocks out a semi-drum solo across the opening seconds of the track as a reminder that, while you might think you know this song, you don’t know the song the way The Dream Logic is going to leave you knowing it. A bombastic guitar entrance with smooth bass undertones joins the drum solo midway, completing the trio with leading man/composer Charles Compo as well as Jerry Brooks on the bass. The statement couldn’t be any more clear: this is The Dream Logic and this is their song, not the cover you might be expecting.
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The track never seems to get away from the band being in complete and total control, and the energy on display is exploding out of the seams that would define a typical cover song. Compo boasts a wide array of instruments in his arsenal, and his musical background is easy to make out from the density of composition on display. Opting to remove a verse from the original version of the song is a remarkable change, as well – it gives the song time to breathe and not feel too overstuffed, as it clocks in at about a minute shorter than the original but still feels fully realized as its own singular entity. A minor qualm only arises when comparing this piece with the original version War released nearly fifty years ago: one can get the craving for the song to rise into more of a party state of existence, which The Dream Logic’s take never goes to. War notably helmed from Long Beach, CA and their sound was crucial to the 70s funk movement, so copying this would have felt cheap for a band not tied to the same setting. Ultimately, the cover stays in its weight class and comes out on top.
It’s an intriguing new step for The Dream Logic, releasing a cover song as their first new release of the year. Trying to collect the prior singles together like puzzle pieces of what’s to come for the group might ultimately feel futile, but it’s an intriguing exercise all the same. We don’t know where they’re going from here but we promise it won’t be boring.
Jodi Marxbury
The music of The Dream Logic has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com