If there’s one thing Circus Mind proves with “The Battle of Brooklyn”, it’s that funk can carry more than just a groove—it can carry a message, a memory, and a neighborhood’s soul. With this bold single, the band transforms a Revolutionary War flashpoint into a musical metaphor for the cultural siege happening right now in Brooklyn’s gentrifying boroughs.
The New York-based rock-funk collective, helmed by the ever-clever Mark Rechler, takes listeners on a time-bending trip through the alleys of colonial warfare and straight into the cracked sidewalks of modern-day Greenpoint. The track opens with a rhythm section that hits like a cavalry charge—Dylan Niederauer’s bass is thick as molasses and twice as sticky, locking step with Dan Roth’s sharp, punchy drumming while Steve Finkelstein colors the corners with snappy percussion flourishes that evoke marching drums and jazz parades.
Rechler’s lyrical delivery is sly, strutting, and soaked in irony. “Nowhere left that we can hide / Surrounded almost every side” might’ve described 1776, but it sounds a lot like 2025 for many long-time residents watching their neighborhoods morph overnight. Then comes the kicker: “If you bring a knife to a gun fight / You won’t make it through the night.” Delivered with a wink and a sting, it’s the kind of line that hits you twice—once with a chuckle, and again with a wince.
The band shines as a unit throughout, with Brian Duggan’s guitar laying down wah-wah textures and swampy, wah-soaked riffs that recall Little Feat, and Michael Amendola’s saxophone providing a searing counterpoint that elevates the tension. Circus Mind has long been praised for their genre agility—swinging from funk to New Orleans boogie to classic rock without breaking stride—and here, they harness that agility in service of a razor-sharp theme.
The song takes a turn midway, shifting from wartime allegory to modern lament: “The bodegas now some hipster coffee place.” With just that line, Circus Mind captures an entire era’s worth of discontent, nostalgia, and exasperation. The humor softens the blow, but the truth remains undeniable—Brooklyn’s war isn’t over, it’s just traded in bayonets for bulldozers.
Fresh off their critically acclaimed Bioluminate album, a joyful cocktail of psychedelic pop and Nola funk, “The Battle of Brooklyn” is more focused and fiery. It’s a groove-laden protest song wrapped in sequins and satire, executed with the polish of a band that’s played Jazzfest, B.B. King’s, and Brooklyn Bowl, yet still burns with the fire of the underground.
This isn’t just another quirky New York anthem—it’s a gut-punch with a groove. “The Battle of Brooklyn” swings, stomps, and struts with the ghosts of history and the grit of present-day struggle. It reminds us that rhythm is rebellion, and funk, when done right, is a form of resistance.
Garth Thomas