The Best Bands You’ve Never Heard: Essential Logic
The punk boom of 1976 produced a wealth of, mostly pretty mediocre, bands around the world, but it was the post-punk scene which followed that brought some colour and vibrancy to the genre. Building upon the manifesto of punk, with added influences and instrumentation, post-punk is a needlessly ambiguous term for the wide variety of disparate acts which were inspired by the DIY ethos of punk. Given how wide-ranging the scene was, it was depressingly easy for certain bands to fall through the cracks, including the groundbreaking stylings of Essential Logic.
Essential Logic have their roots in the similarly underappreciated punk outfit X-Ray Spex. Lora Logic, born Susan Whitby, had co-founded the Spex at the age of only 16, spearheaded by the infallible leadership of Poly Styrene. The band were among the greatest groups of early punk rock, rebelling against the macho sensibilities that permeated through much of the scene and lamenting the rise of commercialism and attitudes towards gender. Logic’s time with X-Ray Spex was fairly brief, with her departing before the release of their debut album, Germfree Adolescents. However, the record does still feature Logic’s uncredited saxophone arrangements.
After leaving X-Ray Spex to be replaced by Rudi Thompson, Logic formed her own group, Essential Logic, immediately after graduating from art school. The lineage of X-Ray Spex is clear within the sound of Essential Logic in that it is saxophone-led punk rock. However, with Essential Logic, Lora leaned more into the experimental angle as well as incorporating elements of dub, reggae, soul and motown. The resulting sound was fiercely original and incredibly ahead of its time – the by-product of which was that Essential Logic did not enjoy the same level of acclaim as some of their post-punk contemporaries.
The sonic menagerie of Essential Logic is akin to a mismatch of Nina Hagen, The Slits and Kleenex. However, discussing a band by its influences is always a little reductive. The vibrancy of Essential Logic cannot be summed up with a short list of groups they enjoyed. It would be more beneficial to look at the acts that Essential Logic themselves inspired.
It goes without saying that the riot grrrl scene of the early 1990s owes a great deal to Essential Logic, but they also impacted acts a little closer to home. Bass player Sean Oliver, for instance, would build upon his experience with Logic to form Rip, Rig & Panic, while guitarist William Bennett would go on to embrace noise rock with Whitehouse.
Despite their vast and lasting impact, the music output of Essential Logic was fairly limited – not in sound, but in volume. During their initial tenure, the group only managed to release one studio album, 1979’s Beat Rhythm News, and a handful of singles released through iconic independent label Rough Trade. Outside of the indie charts, none of these releases achieved much commercial acclaim, though that was hardly the aim. Bands like Essential Logic do not exist to generate revenue; they are pure artistic expressions of euphoria and cultural revolution – which are much more important than appearing on Top of the Pops.
Besides, Essential Logic managed to grab the attention of John Peel, one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon a punk band. Peel recruited Logic to record some sessions in early 1979, prior to the release of their debut album, which have recently been reissued by the group. Listening to these sessions now, over 40 years later, it is shocking how fresh and innovative they continue to sound. The fact that Essential Logic still sound like the future is a testament to the songwriting genius of Lora Logic.
The initial tenure of Essential Logic was depressingly short, with the group splitting in 1981 to pursue other avenues. After the split, Lora joined her old bandmate Poly Styrene in the Hare Krishna movement, devoting herself to spirituality and peace. Eventually, the pair reformed X-Ray Spex in the 1990s, though her time with the band proved as short as it had been back in 1976. Since 2001, Logic has been creating music under the Essential Logic name, including a long-awaited sophomore album in 2022’s Land of Kali.
The band has enjoyed a staying power not afforded to many groups who gained prominence in the punk or post-punk scene, and rightly so, as maybe the world is finally ready for the incredible sounds of Essential Logic.
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