Devo: New Traditionalists
1981
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc
Track Listing: 1. Through Being Cool 2. Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth 3. Pity You 4. Soft Things 5.Going Under 6. Race of Doom 7. Love Without Anger 8. The Super Thing 9. Beautiful World 10. Enough Said (CD Bonus Tracks: 11. Nu-tra Speaks 12. One Dumb Thing 13. Modern Life 14. Faster and Faster 15. Psychology of Desire 16. Beautiful World (EZ Listening version))
I have a vinyl copy of "New Traditionalists," but it doesn't contain the bitchin' poster that originally came with it...
I've been hunting high and low for a copy with the poster, but no luck...
I think "New Traditionalists" is a slight step down from their previous album, but it's still pretty awesome...The sound is oddly muffled, which in a way, matches the album's darker, claustrophobic feel. Despite their spiffy, plastic Ronald Reagan haircuts, they seem a bit bummed-out and fed-up:
"Take all the leaders from around the world,
Put them together in a great big ring,
Televise it as the lowest show on earth.
And let them fight like hell to see who's king..."
Think of the record as a bleary-eyed "Freedom of Choice." The same emphasis on synthesizers over guitars, but the difference is they can no longer hide their disgust behind their satirical, robotic facade...Or maybe they were chafing at the "novelty group" label...Either way, the greyed-out sound makes the whole album seem to run together, but give it a few plays and individual tracks start to jump out of the murk...
"Through Being Cool" kicks things off with their latest mission statement: They'd hit it big, but now they're done with all that and are now aligning themselves with the "many factions underground"...Watch out, Mr. Hinky Dink! This is some tough talk for a bunch of nerdy guys with synthesizers, and I love it!
"Jerkin' Back & Forth" is the album's big pop moment...A catchy little single with an unforgettably disjointed chorus that would have sounded great on "Freedom of Choice." I'm always surprised this wasn't a bigger hit...Maybe it's a little too on-the-nose..."Whip It" had a weird ambiguity that probably made people sit up and say, "WTF?!" whereas "Jerkin Back and Forth" is just an expertly crafted pop song...
Oh yea! We can't forget about "Beautiful World"! I think more than anything, this song captures the spirit of this album...Jerry intoning the song's empty platitudes in a voice that sounds like a sarcastic robot, until the end of the song where he makes his intentions perfectly clear (just in case you hadn't been paying attention):
I remember videotaping the video for this song from MTV and just watching it over and over...If you've never seen the video, make sure to check it out...It strikes the perfect balance between their fascination with dazzling futurism and their disgust with the barbarism of the present...
"It's a beautiful world for you,
but not for me..."
A few years back I picked up the most recent CD reissue, which features some pretty nonsensical (and outstanding) bonus tracks...Most of the outtakes actually originate from their next album, "Oh No! It's Devo," although that doesn't change the fact that "One Dumb Thing" and "Modern Life" are top-notch songs...Particularly "One Dumb Thing" with its "Nehhhrrr-Wooooo" keyboard part that manages to stay stuck in my head for days on end...
For some reason, the band's popular cover of "Working in a Coalmine" isn't included on the reissue, despite the band actually recording it specifically for this album...Legend has it, the track was removed by their meddling Label, and then later added back on as a bonus 7-inch after it became a surprise hit on the "Heavy Metal" soundtrack...
All in all, "New Traditionalists" is another solid album by the band...They were really on a roll at this point..Here's "Through Being Cool" by Devo...Enjoy...
Devo: Oh No! It's Devo!
1982
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Time Out for Fun: 2. Peek-a-Boo! 3. Out of Sync 4. Explosions 5. That's Good 6. Patterns 7. Big Mess 8. Speed Racer 9. What I Must Do 10. I Desire 11. Deep Sleep
Some people consider this the moment where Devo goes into their big decline, but I tend to see this as their last classic before the fall...I enjoy the hell out of this album...It feels like the bright, poppy answer to the darkness of "New Traditionists," where the band reminds us to take "time out for fun" right at the album's outset...
Despite all the chirpy synth pop and funny cartoon voices there seems to be an undercurrent of mental illness on this record: First off there's that insidious pirate laugh during "Peek-a-Boo!" (the pirate later appears on the track "Speed Racer" too!)...Then we have the album highlight "Big Mess" which on the surface appears to be the comedic story of a cowboy/business man who runs a radio show, but in reality the lyrics were based on a series of letters by some presumably mentally ill person, that you can read here:
Then there's "I Desire," which feature lyrics by John Hinckley Jr, who you might remember as the guy who shot Reagan back in the day...And is it just me, or do the lyrics for the song preceding it ("What I Must Do") seem to foretell these actions?
"I used to plan and plot,And try to live correct,
Lately I do a lot
Of things that don't make sense
I must do what I must do,And I do though I know better,
I must do what I must do,
Even though he might regret it..."
Again, you wouldn't know any of this by just hearing the music, which couldn't sound any more celebratory...It's hard to think of a Devo album that's more of a rollicking party record, with effervescent pop like "That's Good" and "Out of Sync."
I love the song "Speed Racer," by the way...It's bizarre, even for Devo...A parade of Saturday Morning cartoon characters spewing out nonsensical phrases...The best moment being the stuffy Doctor Steel who proclaims, "I like to steal, so here's your bill!"
I think this album is flippin' genius...It's the last time their subversiveness was at full-strength, and while it's true the band would go into a serious decline, it doesn't happen here...
Oh yea, I almost forgot to mention the best part of this record! It comes with a swank merchandise catalog!!!!
Man, I wish this order form was still valid...I'd order every last item (I did the math by the way, and such an order (barring redundant merchandise) would come to about $100.00...Deal!). Items of interest: That ultra-uncomfortable looking square T-shirt...
This is what the shirt looks like in real life...
That square neck looks like it would eventually bug the hell out of me, for some reason...
I'm also interested in that Action Vest...
I think it would technically adhere to the dress-code at work...I don't recall any ban on Action Vests...Waitaminute, never mind...It doesn't have a collar...
No, wait! They sell plastic spud collars on the back of the order form! Game on! Uh oh...No Extra Larges!!
Here's "Big Mess" by Devo...Check it out...
Devo: Theme From Doctor Detroit EP
1983
MCA Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Theme From Doctor Detroit (dance mix) 2. Luv-Luv 3. Theme From Doctor Detroit
Man, I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid...I remember loving it then, but as I think back on it, it seems like an extremely bizarre film...I feel like I must be remembering it wrong...Was it something about Dan Aykroyd being a college professor and he pretends to be some pimp/crime-boss with a metal hand? Can that be right?
It feels like I talk about Dan Aykroyd a lot on this site...Is he really that important a figure in my life? I've got to look into that...Anyway, as soon as I caught a glimpse of Dan skewering the Devo spuds on a sword, I knew I had to snag this record...It's a brief, 3-song EP featuring two tracks that appeared on the full soundtrack album, and an extended dance mix of the "Theme From Doctor Detroit"...
I didn't exactly go into this expecting "Pet Sounds" or "Blonde on Blonde" but it's an alright listen...It feels like the band is starting to get a little light, but the Doctor Detroit theme is interesting, with all its little interlocking synth lines..."Luv Luv" sounds like it could have been (and probably was) an "Oh No! It's Devo" outtake...Same uptempo synth-heavy sound...I'd be lying if I said I spun this EP all the time, but it was fun to hear it again...I wouldn't recommend paying too much for it, though...A buck sounds fair...
Here's "Theme From Doctor Detroit"...Enjoy...
Devo: Shout
1984
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Shout 2. The Satisfied Mind 3. Don't Rescue Me 4. The 4th Dimension 5. C'mon 6. Here to Go 7. Jurisdiction of Love 8. Puppet Boy 9. Please Please 10. Are You Experienced?
I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this album to anyone...Basically, the band has been replaced by the Fairlight CMI Digital Computer...
...So if you're interested in guitars, drums and analog keyboards, you're out of luck...If you're into dry, lifeless digital tones, however, you've just hit the mother lode! Mark has stated in interviews that this was primarily done because band members were no longer showing up to record the albums...It's a fairly impressive demonstration of the Fairlight's capabilities and to be honest, I kinda enjoy this album on a completely superficial level; As generic, overly-synthesized, 80's pop albums go, this one's alright...As a Devo album, it's an almost total bust....
Here are the things I like about the album:
1. I like the digital trumpet fanfare on the title track...It's hilariously cheesy and triumphant...
2. If you listen closely, you can make out a faint sense of excitement on "Here to Go." I also make out a distant weirdness on "Puppet Boy"...
3. "Are You Experienced" is the only song on the album that contains a healthy dose of Devo's signature brilliance...A Jimi Hendrix cover that perversely features little-to-no actual guitar...Sure, it's no "Satisfaction" but we'll take what we can get at this point...P.S. the video for this is one of my favorites...Mainly due to the corpse of Jimi Hendrix rising from the dead to play the guitar solo...
4. DEVO's Chinese-American Friendship Suits...
5. And the highlight of any Devo record...The merchandise catalog! Items of interest: The pointy deluxe "Shout" shirt and the Shout Club cap that looks like something an Ice Cream Man would wear...On the other side of the catalog is a nifty advertisement for the band's Video LP, available on hi-fi Betamax!!!
I'd probably advise the average person to avoid "Shout," but if you're the hardest of hardcore Devo fans or an aficionado of obscure 80's synthpop it's worth a listen...They would actually go on to make an album worse than this with 1988's "Total Devo," which I used to have on cassette back in the day and I literally could not believe it was the same band...Just the most boring, pony-tailed, overlong album I'd ever heard...
I haven't heard it in about 18 years, so who knows, maybe it's better than I remember...If I ever hear it again, I'll let you know...They put out an album in 1990 called "Smooth Noodle Maps," which I've never heard outside of a few select tracks on a compilation, which we'll get to in another post...So I can't fully comment on its merits...However, we'll pick up after that in the next post, where I'll try and finish up the remainder of my Devo albums...
Until then, here's "Shout" by Devo...Enjoy....
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