Devo

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More About

• Mark Mothersbaugh
• Josh Freese
• Gerald Casale
• Chrissie Hynde
• Bob Mothersbaugh

Devo: The name alone conjures up strange images of flowerpot headgear, plastic hair, and yellow radiation jackets (and spuds!). To the casual observer the style comes across as silly, but to fans it has always been part of the charm. The band came out of Akron in the early '70s, in a region of the Buckeye State that would also produce Pere Ubu, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, and eventually Nine Inch Nails. Devo predated the punk movement but found their greatest success in the heyday of the new-wave movement of the early '80s. Like many bands of that era, they sent a good song ("Whip It") into the top 20, while their greatest songs ("Beautiful World," "Through Being Cool," "That's Good," etc.) were severely underappreciated. And like many of their new-wave contemporaries, they found themselves out of favor by the dawn of the '90s. Undeterred, several of the band's members got together to produce music for video games and TV shows. The group even helped create a kid version of the band for Disney called Devo 2.0. A few weeks ago, the band released Something for Everyone, their first new album in 19 years, and they've been touring in support of it since spring. The "classic" lineup of Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, and Bob Casale is back (with Josh Freese drumming). Maintaining the trademark sound, the music still sounds oddly modern. Indeed, Devo may not have lived up to the theory of de-evolution that inspired their name, and "that's good." (Photo by Joshua Dalsimer)
Sat., July 3, 7:30 p.m., 2010