Beth’s Music Moment – New Devo!

This past week, Devo issued their first studio album in 20 years, "Something For Everybody." Extensive market research and fan input from their website, ClubDevo, provided everything from which songs would be included on the CD to the colors used on the artwork and new uniforms (blue energy dome, yay!).

I had heard a couple of songs prior to the release this past week, and the band made appearances on multiple talk shows, including Letterman, Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel. (And Regis and Kathy Lee Kelly, but I missed that one.) I got my CD in the mail on Thursday, and I've listened to it several times already. I have to say that I am very, very pleased! Here are brief comments on the tracks.

1. Fresh - This is the first single, and according to my niece Jen, it's getting a lot of airplay in San Diego, so I assume it's getting play in other large cities. Very up-tempo, and this is the song that I've heard them play on the talk shows.

2. What We Do - Some heavy bass here that reminds me of "Going Under" from "New Traditionalists." That's one of my favorite Devo songs, so this is a good thing.

3. Please Baby Please - Another up-tempo song, with great harmonies and a straight-up rock guitar solo.

4. Don't Shoot (I'm A Man) - This is my favorite song on the CD (so far). It's got a very danceable techno beat, and it's hard to go wrong with a song that uses "Don't taze me, bro!" in its lyrics. In fact, it's impossible.

5. Mind Games - I love these lines: "She tries on dresses half her size...She wiggles till you give her love." The way Mark sings "mind games" with that hard Midwestern accent makes me think of him gnawing off a piece of beef jerky.

6. Human Rocket - More heavy backbeat.

7. Sumthin' - "I'm the leader of the Western world, the big decider in the neighborhood." Gee, wonder who this is about? A nice political dig, saying that any politician will try to pretend that he or she has something for everybody.

8. Step Up - "Listen up, y'all. It's D-E-V-O. Take a hard line, let some fur fly, learn to stay high above the stormy sea...it's never to late to shake that thing!"

9. Cameo - One of the more goofy songs here, still with that heavy backbeat and still danceable.

10. Later Is Now - LIghter fare, with more ethereal synths.

11. No Place Like Home - A beautiful piano intro, and the only somewhat slow song on here, although still upbeat. "In the biggest scheme of things, we haven't been around here more than a moment. We are creating a brand new world without us." An environmental song that basically says that we're polluting ourselves right out of existence.

12. March On - He was a "good soldier." Subliminal messages here, with someone intoning "Sex" and "Love" at certain points. I love this CD! Although the synths are still there big time, this one has a heavier rock beat than many of their early albums. I wonder if their new drummer, Josh Freese, has anything to do with that? He played with Nine Inch Nails and Guns 'N Roses. Maybe he brought a heavier touch to the band, and I am not complaining! There are none of the slower masterpieces like "Mongoloid" or "Shrivel Up," but every song on this disc is fun and rocking. Mark Mothersbaugh said that although they still use their analog synthesizers, they are also now using computers to make music. Viva technology!

I think a lot of people never understood just how subversive and political Devo was (and is). Birthed from the tragedy at Kent State, the Spudboys were always about questioning authority, and believed that we are on a downward spiral: de-evolution. (Or as Stephen Colbert put it, "intelligent decline.") Although our physical makeup might be evolving, our ethical attributes are becoming increasingly clouded and obscured. Aren’t we seeing that now? Devo always understood this; the rest of the world has had to catch up to them. Mothersbaugh says that Devo's philosophy is "intact. That's what set us apart in the first place—we were always pro-information, anti-stupidity. We were reporting the news of de-evolution, which is now less of a hard sell than it used to be."

You got that right, Mark.

I've always loved Devo, and this new CD is a lot of fun. Does it have the oomph of their early CDs? Of course not. As Roland would say, the world has moved on. But this is still a lot of fun, and I am very pleased that the mutants from Akron, Ohio are still making music. Duty now for the future, spuds.