DEVO clones itself!

Devo + Disney = DE2.0

By BRIAN THOMAS     January 31, 2006

The latest and perhaps most daring project for pioneering rock band Devo is a partnership that some fans are likely to find controversial, and perhaps even sacrilegious. Disney Sound, a new imprint of Walt Disney Records, apparently has a lot of Devo fans within their executive ranks, and signed a deal with the band to bring their peppy electro-rock music to a new generation via five talented tweenagers aged 10-13. The newly cloned band DEVO 2.0, clad in updated versions of the Devo uniforms, has recorded a full album of Devo covers, plus two new songs penned by Devo's synthesizer genius Gerald V. Casale.

"The concept is about the energy and aesthetic of DEVO being passed like an Olympic torch to a new generation," claims Casale, who directed nine music videos with the band for the DVD, which is set for release on March 14 bundled with the first 2.0 CD. Although the state of music video has evolved to a ridiculous degree in the 21st century, all nine DEVO 2.0 videos [which can be previewed online at www.devo2-0.com ] reflect the raw aesthetic of the band's early videos, with 2.0 performing in front of two large screens displaying Casale's colorful, demented animations.

Founded by art students Casale and Mark Motherbaugh in 1972, Devo was intended as a multimedia attack on the hippy-dippy rock and art of the era, an intentional overreaction that fostered an agenda of satirical fascism and tongue-in-cheek totalitarianism. In the Devo worldview, created in tandem with the ubercult dogma of the insidious SubGenius Foundation, Big Brother has already won and is reprogramming the human race to devolve back into primordial ooze. Many of their songs expressed post-post-modern angst and the anguish of humanity longing for their long lost tails. However, these messages were packaged in infectiously danceable pop form which, when combined with the groups sense of humor and zany uniforms, fooled the general public into accepting them as a marginal cartoon band whose sado-masochistic anthem "Whip It" is often heard at wedding receptions.

Nicole (vocals), Nathan (guitar), Michael (bass), Jackie (keyboards) and Kane (drums) may look like candidates for the Mouseketeers, but they seem to have the right attitude and energy, and the songs remain as catchy as they have ever been. "I'm honored to be the new Mark Mothersbaugh!" quips Nicole, the perky lead singer. This is not as loopy as it sounds, since Mothersbaugh's music is probably better known to youngsters than you might think, as Mothersbaugh may be better known to the younger set at this point. His recent credits include composing music for HERBIE: FULLY LOADED, RUGRATS and CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG. But does this new incarnation made up of squeaky clean California kids that love sushi have the same edge as that gang of old art nerds?

While making the outfit of mixed gender makes changes like recording "Girl U Want" as "Boy U Want" natural, some changes are somewhat creepy. "Beautiful World", a heartrendingly sarcastic take on plastic societal conformity has Mothersbaugh declaring, "It's a beautiful world... For you... Not for me!" by the end, but in the 2.0 version, Nicole smugly ends the song with, "And for me, too!" Is this a signal of acceptance that the Pinks have indeed won out over the merry mutants, and that even Devo has learned to love Big Brother? Not so fast! It's oddly fitting to the concept of the original band (which is still playing, having just performed a trio of concerts at Agoura Hills, California's Canyon Club) that they should have an offshoot co-created by one of the planet's hungriest corporate beasts, corrupting the world's youth from inside the power structure through devolutionary images and ideas. These kids may not know what they're really singing about when they belt out "Freedom of Choice", "Through Being Cool" or "Uncontrollable Urge", but they're a smart bunch and will catch on sooner or later. And maybe the world will be a better place for it.

(© 2006 Brian Thomas) Brian Thomas is the author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS, available now!

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