Devo - Something For Everybody

The year is 2010.

To be honest, the state of popular music is dismal at best. Folks like Lady Gaga are headlining Lollapalooza while Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" is topping the Billboard charts in the categories of the Hot 100, Digital Songs, and Ringtones. In some way, this seems strange that Devo has released an album some 20 years after their last (and universally un-acclaimed), Smooth Noodle Maps. Then again, maybe it's the perfect time for a new Devo album.

Anyone familiar with Devo is aware of the concept of "de-evolution", and in some ways, it could be aruged that some 30 years ago, they were seeing the future. The popular music now - filled with rudimentary beats, lackluster lyrics, clumsily thrown around melodies and mispelled titles - seems to be a decline from the popular music even 15 years ago, where the music wasn't exactly challenging to begn with. Devo, with their history of attacking the commercial culture that their music was a part of, has attempted to release an album filled with songs that please their audience, attract new fans, and critique this day and age while secretly blending in with it.

Anyone unwrapping the CD or LP from the shrinkwrap will notice stickers that say "88% Focus Group Approved" and slightly chuckle, not knowing this was actually the case. The tracklisting was determined by a "Song Study" held where Devo fans voted on the songs, picking from 16 and only being able to choose 12. Devo would later add 3 others, and when you do the math, you get 88%. This, coupled with the previous videos (most satirical) of fake focus group testing approving the new Devo "Energy Dome" color (for those unaware, those are the flower pot lookin' things they were ((for those curious they went from red to blue)). This way, Devo was able to drum up publicity for the album while giving the fans some control over the finish project (folks might remember Rivers Cuomo doing this for a Weezer album - the idea later got scrapped).

So, with some much emphasis on the presentation, the marketing and everything else, how is the music? Well, it sounds like Devo in 2010, which can be a mixed blessing. Much like Funplex by the B-52's, there's a sense of trying to hold on to the past, while embracing the technology of the future. Yes, there are synths all over the album, but there's also guitar - probably about the same balance as one would hear on Freedom of Choice. The production is slick, everything is LOUD and there were a few different engineers and producers having their hands in this. But it's Devo. It kind of works.

The music, while not rocking out in 7/4 or repeating chants for 4 minutes that some embrace and alienate others, is uptempo, catchy and to the point. It sounds like the second best dance party of 2010. "But wait!", you the reader might be thinking. "Didn't you just blast popular uptempo music with a straight 4/4 beat and no substance to it!", well yes, yes I did. I can't speak for Lady Gaga, but since the lyrical genius of "pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-poker face" has yet to put down the lyric "al-Qaeda and the Taliban/fundamentally out of hand/I keep trying to turn it all around/but the New World Order wants to take me down" and make it singable, I'll stick with these guys. The lyrics are rife with even more references to popular culture; "Don't Shoot (I'm A Man)" has a chorus of "don't taze me bro!", "No Place Like Home" is clearly lifted from The Wizard of Oz and is fitting given the parallels of the technicolor film to the vibrant musical world they've cleary strived at creating. And it's all over in some 38 minutes.

Given that 4 of the 5 members are the same folks that were re-working "Satisfaction" back in 1977 (session drummer Josh Freese has since become a full member of the band), it's fantastic that they still have this creative energy going. Whether this will turn out to be another great 21st century reunion like Mission of Burma, or a lackluster cash-in like the Butthole Surfers is still up in the air, but here's to hoping that this isn't the last we've heard of those boys from Akron, Ohio.

OVERALL RATING - I'd say 78% NM approved, +/- 10% given my mood, diet and holiday season.
KEY TRACKS - "Fresh", "Sumthin'", "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)"