DEVO IS JUST ALL RIGHT WITH ME

Photos of Devo at McCarren Pool in 2008 by Nick Gazin

Devo got their start at Kent State way back when. Their early shows were more performance art than music. For the first few years they devoted themselves more or less fully to being weird dudes and cultivating a vast mythology of characters and ideas like the Chinaman, the Gorj, and Booji Boy. They also recorded some real lo-fi experimental and rad shit which was released decades later as Hardcore Devo Volumes 1 and 2. Songs like “Mechanical Man,” “Auto Mo-Down,” and “I Need a Chick” really nailed the trifecta of alienation, violence, and horniness. They were also jarringly abrasive and almost completely devoid of melody.

Around this time they saw the need to make poppier tunes for whatever reason and released some awesome singles like “Mongoloid” and “Uncontrollable Urge.” They believed that laser discs were going to replace vinyl records and were making music videos for their songs long before MTV stole the idea off Mike Nesmith. At some point they collaborated with Neil Young on a movie called Human Highway that’s borderline impossible to find a VHS copy of.

Devo were weird but somehow they were all over TV. They appeared on Square Pegs and Saturday Night Live. They were known to the point that it was a thing for people to yell “Hey, Devo!” at punks they saw on the street since it was the only name they had for weird-looking kids.

These days even professional music nerds will refer to them as an “80s band” or “New Wavers” or put “Whip It” in parentheses after their name, but Devo made a lot of great experimental and pop music. They’re also the intentional perpetrators of an increasing assortment of smart and interesting media ploys that people accuse them of being duped or tarnished by, like Devo 2.0 and that Swiffer ad. Most recently They were weirdo artists subverting mainstream culture while simultaneously being celebrated by it. I’d like to think that people finally get it but you never know with the spuds.

NICK GAZIN

Give this thing a click to watch Motherboard’s look inside Devo’s studio.