Jez Kerr - Numb Mouth Eat Waste

Jez Kerr is bass guitarist, songwriter and vocalist of A Certain Ratio, the band he formed in Manchester in 1977 with three friends - Simon Topping, Peter Terrell and Martin Moscrop - who bonded over a shared love of Northern soul, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno, taking their name from a line in the Eno song A True Wheel. Signed for pretty much all their career to Factory and then Rob’s Records,  their repertoire includes classics like “Shack Up”, “Won’t Stop Loving You”, “Good Together” and “27 Forever”. ACR’s cult following and appeal has never dimmed with Soul Jazz Recordings re-issuing ACR’s early albums in the Noughties.  However, Kerr is the only member who remains a full-time musician. This has prompted a collection of songs written based on Jez’s earlier influences and, for the first time in 30 years, without ACR in mind. A digital-only single, Play Sumthing Fast, was released by Welsh valleys-based indie Higuera Records earlier this year, and another, Rip You Right Back came out at the end of May, with his debut solo album Numb Mouth Eat Waste due for release 12th September. The singles sound distinctly Mancunian; Kerr's vocals are gentle verging on tentative, the rhythmic drive of the songs is almost a throwback to early Joy Division, the guitars grind and mesh in a way that echoes the very earliest ACR records, yet everything manages to sound much brighter and more upbeat than the sum of its parts might suggest. Kraftwerk meets the Buzzcocks. He's recently performed his first ever London solo show with a band that featured ex-Fall and Ian Brown drummer Simon Wolstonecroft, former Hacienda and New Order DJ Tintin on keyboards, and Treatment’s  Keo Martin on guitar, as well as sold out gigs in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and North wales. He has an extensive Nationwide tour arranged in September, when his solo album is released, and a tour of the U.S, where ACR are still cult favourites, is set for October. A well received session for Marc Riley’s Radio 6 Music show early in January saw 4 tracks broadcast across the national network which in turn brought critical nods and acclaim.

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