On their first album in twenty years, Devo doesn't do anything new, but they do their 'same old' thing better than they have in an even longer time. As they say in “What We Do,” “What we do is what we do/ It's all the same, there's nothing new.” Nonetheless, the result is, as the opening track declares, “So fresh!” The rhythms are tight and propulsive, the tunes are infectiously catchy, and the cultural satire is still sharp (even if, in the end, it's a little more serious than we are used to).
Devo did have some help in this project, from their fans. Something for Everybody is “focus-group tested” which, in this case, means they posted potential tracks on their web site and let their fans vote on which should be included on the album. Still, it says a lot that they had material this great, this inspired, to present.
The sound here is clearly Devo yet, in a way, the influences have come full circle. They have utilized some standard '80s sounds that were used by bands who came after them and were, not doubt, listening to Devo when they were building their own sounds. Among these are the big vocals, a la Depeche Mode, on “No Place Like Home,” and the New Order-ish sheets of synthesizer on “Later is Now” and “March On.”
It wouldn't be a Devo album without social satire. Pop culture references abound in every song, even the love (or perhaps love/hate better describes them) songs. From the subtle (“She tries on dresses half her size/ she whines 'These labels all tell lies'” on “Mind Games”) to the obvious (repeated references to what people drive, from SUVs to hybrids). They tackle everything from terrorism to campaign speeches and political punditry. They even get away with quoting “Don't Tase me bro!” in “Don't Shoot (I'm a Man).”
But they aren't just joking. The final trio of songs (which are also among the catchiest on the album) bring their themes together, and show that do have a serious message for their listeners; namely that the human culture they have been mocking actually has the potential to ruin all human life. “Later Is Now” states that the time to deal with our problems (especially environmental ones) is now, as in “I'll deal with it later/ I'll deal with it later/ … Later is now!” “No Place Like Home” details how, for thousands of years, man has defiled the planet. The full chorus of “There's no place like home… to return to” tells us that if we mess up the Earth, we have nowhere else to go.
Still the album ends on a note of sympathy for us pitiful humans. The final track, “March On,” which at first sounds like an antiwar anthem, is really about confused humans marching through a world they don't understand. The “brave little soldier/ marching far from home/ he was lost and he was lonely/ pretending to be bold… looking for some answers” is really all of us, hoping that “everything will be revealed/ in some twisted way.' We can only hope.
Devo has not only produced an album which sounds great today, it is relevant to today as well.
Artist:
www.clubdevo.com/
www.myspace.com/devo
Album:
Something For Everyone is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
