Devo, Something For Everybody

Posted on July 25, 2010 by

Artist: Devo
Title: Something For Everybody
Label: Warner Brothers 53975
Release Date: June 15, 2010
Genre: New Wave

“What we do / Is what we do / It’s all the same / There’s nothing new.”  Those are some of the lyrics from the track, “What We Do.” There is some truth to those lyrics and it is also an understatement.

This album does have elements of vintage Devo; the stiff geeky beats, pop hooks and social commentary. There’s nothing new. But there is a brilliance to admitting that what they do is what they do, and have it sound still fresh but yet capture their prime sound. “It’s so fresh it almost makes me want to cry.” Sings Mothersbaugh on the opening track. The song immediately pulls you into the album with the stuttering delivery of the lyrics and the snotty new wave guitar riff.

“Don’t Shoot (I’m A Man)” features the paradoxical lyrics of devolution. It pits the miracle of life against our need to work everyday and the risks we take dealing with a society that has gone mad. But yet in true Devo form, they make it sound fun not didactic or preachy.

Devo sends the same message of warning about the direction of our culture, much like the message of a folk song, but they also include a new wave twist of the Emma Goldman quote, “If I can’t dance – I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”

It’s been about twenty years since there was a truly new Devo record. It is not  a perfect record but it is a damn near perfect representation of what Devo is. Devo gives us a rhythm to rally around and if you open your mind, they offer something for everybody.

One Response to “Devo, Something For Everybody”

  1. vaporland says:

    thanks for the positive review!

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