ALBUM: Something for Everybody
BAND: Devo
OTHER FACTS: Release Year: 2010
Line up: Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale, Bob Mothersbaugh, Bob Casale, Josh Freese
Overview:
Can I say this? Devo is back. Listening to this album is a pleasure for the closeted Devo fan-boy inside of me. Needless to say, when I heard a new album was coming out back in 2010, I was nervous. Bands from the 80s releasing new material...I shuddered and remembered many a hair metal revival album, but my worries were for naught! This album is what I've come to crave from Devo. It's sharp, catchy and painfully sarcastic. It is wrought with the cultural parodies and massive tounge-in-cheekness that represents Devo at their best. Dare I say, its what Oh, No! It's Devo should have been... Its not that I didn't like that album for other reasons, but it lacked the fire and the wit that presents on Devo's best work. I've always considered Devo to be an, albeit estranged, punk band. They had the raw edge (especially in their earlier material), the intelligence and the blazon "we're gonna do whatever we want" attitude that characterized early punk bands. Plus, they came out at around the same time (their first album releasing in 1978). Yes, unlike other bands from that era, they were well poised to make the transition into the post-punk splinter genre cacophony, but the core was there. You can't listen to "Uncontrollable Urge" or "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" without hearing it. However, being the punk scene was a snapshot of rock music's development at the time, it can not be the same today. As a result, this album is modernized. However, the core Devo soul is not only there, but shining forward in all its Energy Dome-ed glory!
Highlights:
- Fresh - Can I say, as the first highlight, the whole first half of the album? Ok, well, seriously, I have to start with the opener, "Fresh." As an opener, it's catchy, energetic and draws you in. Importantly, it sounds "fresh." For people who thought latter-day Devo sounded bland, this is the shot in the arm you've been waiting for. The boys can still play, and they already have you fist-pumping and robot pop-locking to their pounding beat. This song will stick in your head long after the end of track 12.
- What We Do - Following the opener, is my favorite track "What We Do." It's more jerky and robotic than the opener, and it adds a one-up to "Fresh's" ante. This song has been stuck in my head for weeks, and I don't mind one bit. I would also like to point out the ironically biographical themes of the first two songs. "Fresh" shouts, "Hey! We're back, and we're ready to kick you in the balls because we're crisper, harder and better than before!," and "What We Do" retorts with "Yo, this is what we do. It's no biggie. This is what we're are good at, and this is what you should expect." It dishes out the synth-rock, syncopated, stop-start jerk-rhythms that I love Devo for. (Plus, if you ever get the chance to check out the music videos for either of these two songs, do so. Devo has not lost any of their visual flair). I, also, cannot ignore the ever-true comment on American culture. The lyrics (and subsequent visual imagery in the video) perpetuate the De-evolution theory the band was founded on. Our culture keeps rolling on, cranking out more and more of the same old, same old. We package it as "new!" and "shiny!" to get consumers to buy, but, at the end of the day, its the same lackluster, fatty, wasteful result. Our culture discourages intelligence and individuality and forces us to dumb-down and conform. De-evolution at its finest.
- Don't Shoot (I'm a Man) - "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)" dog-piles on this album's singles arsenal. The verses leave you pounding along on the musical train, and the chorus offers the command "Don't Shoot!" And with that, like a gun, the synth line fires out, cimbs up and falls with Mark Mothersbaugh calling "I'm a Maaaa-aaaaannn!" over top. Its fun to listen to and thoroughly danceable. I got a good laugh over "Don't tase me, bro" being a lyric, too.
- Human Rocket - If I had to choose another favorite track, it would be this. The chorus drives like it's got an engine. The song does not need to start-up, its already firing down its path, and it takes you along for the ride. To quote the song, "There is no turning back, There are no second thoughts." Just hang on. This is a great song with which to crank up your car stereo and blast off into the sunset. Lyrics including: "I am a human missile" do not help prevent the impending speeding ticket, either.
- Cameo - This song comes off as the into/theme song for a larger-than-life movie hero. The lyrics describe this Herculean character, Cameo, over an awesome fuzz-guitar line and a chanting chorus of his name in the background. The bass line is carried by a staccato synthesizer loop that almost invokes fist-pumping at the "Cameo! Cameo!" chants. Insert explosions and a tag line (wait...the lyrics might do that for you...), and you have yourself a legitimate rival to Shaft. Seriously, this song is cool!
- No Place Like Home - This song is definitely the most serious moment on this record. In an album dripping with sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, cultural lampooning, this song is a wonderful step off the beaten path. A beautiful, heartfelt ballad commenting on the state of our environment and the frightening idea of how our future could be. We all know we are ruining our world, but this song adds a sad and foreboding sentiment to this idea by presenting a new perspective in analyzing our unstoppable drive to destroy the earth. "We are building a new world around us," but what kind of a world? We know the world would survive better without us trashing the waters, polluting the air and blowing up the soil, but what do we do? Then, there is the over-arching question of "why?" This song conveys those sentiments through the melancholy piano line, as it combines with the driving beat of the guitar, bass and electronic drums. I think the urgency of our condition is brought out best in the cascading strings and echoing bass drum hits during the chorus. I also like the heartbeat intro suggesting the ICU status of our world. This situation is urgent and possibly irreversible, and I believe Devo brings that to the forefront in this song. They do not answer the previously mentioned questions, however. They only stress the importance of remembering they are there. No one knows what is to come, but we should be motivated by our definitive, impending doom toward some type of action.
In closing, this album is fun, smart and, honestly, it burns by pretty fast. For 12 songs, I did not notice the time go by. I will always love Devo, and I pray for more albums like this. Currently, I'm eagerly awaiting the follow-up. Again, these are my opinions, and if you you want to discuss philosophies and analyses, feel free to hit me up! I'm a music nerd who loves to over-analyze, so go ahead! Apologies on the late update, I downloaded a virus, and my computer was out of commission for a while... but I'm back! See you in the next-week-there-abouts time!
