A Certain Ratio have released three new EPs this year. The first, ACR:EPA, came out back in May and featured Wonderland, the last vocal performance the band did with Denise Johnson. ACR:EPC followed in July, four more slices of new Ratio with the old and new mash up of ACR v The Emperor Machine, their tribute to Andrew Weatherall (The Guv'nor), a new version of Yoyogrip and the Chris Massey remix called Musik Kontrol. In August ACR:EPR came out and for me its the pick of the bunch, a deep dive into the rehearsal rooms and recording studio of a band revitalised in recent years and now bankrolled by Mute. The five tracks on EPR are reminiscent of the early ACR sound but filled out for 2021, the band playing with freedom and an anything goes spirit. The the murk and gloom of post- punk Manchester is in there, army jumpers, demob suits, short back and sides haircuts and Desert Rat shorts, loose drumming, lots of percussion, taut basslines and the discordant woodwind and brass that hark back to Sextet but also a confidence and surefootedness that comes with forty years playing together. Souls In The City Part 2 and Part 1 showcase the funky, dance oriented sound, a fast version and a slower one with squawky horn and squelchy bass. Big Boy Pants is a echo- laden instrumental written and recorded the night Biden defeated Trump, a swirling, noir with Spaghetti Western guitars. Downtown Vibes is spooky, weird jazz. Night People is my current favourite, dislocated, mutant funk pitching up somewhere between Iggy and Bowie in Berlin and TJ Davidson's rehearsal rooms in Little Peter Street at the early end of the 80s, the robotic backing vocal and Jez's slightly more human one playing off against each other while the clarinets and trumpets blow. Buy it here.
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Some artist/bands throw together the stuff from the "cutting room floor" to create a companion to their recently released album. But you can tell by their series of EPs that ACR had much more faith and intention with their "extras." EPA show that ACR LOCO was more than just a band reforming, it was a band in Renaissance. The ideas are constant, and improving and revealing and the songs are all those things. EPC shows how open ACR remain to working with the best and brightest in pushing their art forward. EPR is the band reminding us and themselves of where they come from and giving them the freedom to go where they may go next.
This band is razor sharp and ready to respond.
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