A Certain Ratio

A Certain Ratio were key to their native Manchester, England scene and, consequently, post-punk. The band debuted in 1979 with "All Night Party," a single as astringent as anything else out at the time, then separated themselves by incorporating aspects of other forms, most prominently brass-spiked funk. During ACR's early years with Factory Records, the Top Ten of the U.K. independent singles chart included seven of their titles, highlighted by "Flight" and "Waterline," and they issued five albums including The Graveyard and the Ballroom (1980) and Sextet (1982). Following phases with A&M and Robs Records, ACR were intermittently active. They returned with Mind Made Up in 2008, but then didn't release any new music for a decade until two originals appeared on the anthology ACR:Set (2018). This was followed by ACR Loco (2020), 1982 (2023), and the pared-down It All Comes Down to This (2024), alongside numerous EPs.