ACR Loco

Album review

A Certain Ratio headed toward the making of their first album in a dozen years fired up by fruitful touring, involvement in an extensive reissue campaign capped with ACR: Box, and remixes commissioned by Mute labelmates ranging from fellow Manchester post-punk Barry Adamson to Maps. Perhaps these developments are part of why ACR Loco is freer in spirit and lighter in touch than their previous LP, Mind Made Up. While ACR could be forgiven for feeling the weight of a 40-year history, there's a spring in their step, one that lasts long after the descriptively titled "Bouncy Bouncy" (which could also be an apt, if a bit too silly, title for the album). They're as comfortable with referring to their past -- all phases, especially the tender-hearted moments fronted by Jeremy Kerr, and the more exploratory aspects of their 1981-1985 12" releases -- as they are with exhibiting old and new inspirations. "Bouncy Bouncy" incorporates tumbling go-go drums and a Man-Machine-era Kraftwerk melody. "Yo Yo Gi" quotes the early Detroit techno of Cybotron and seems to feed back from the DFA label's ACR-inspired moves. There's even an acid-laced Brazilian percussion workout to finish. And yet it's all put together in a way that only A Certain Ratio could possibly manage. The lithe, Balearic-meets-bayou funk of "Get a Grip" could be heard as a salute to the late and beloved ACR fanatic Andrew Weatherall, given its likeness to Primal Scream's Weatherall-produced "Screamadelica" (the track more so than the like-titled LP). Then again, it's a continuation of what the band did three decades earlier on ACR: MCR, which showed Weatherall and company the way forward, all the way down to the recruitment of Denise Johnson as lead vocalist. That Weatherall and Johnson both died unexpectedly earlier in 2020 makes the moment bittersweet, but "Get a Grip" suggests continuous forward motion and eternal optimism, augmented by Johnson-like potency from guest vocalist Maria Uzor. The Sink Ya Teeth member is among the several guests who appear in unobtrusive fashion, almost as if they're trying out for a role in the band rather than making a featured appearance. Johnson is also in the mix, as valuable as ever to ACR.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo