Devo – Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! (1978 Warner Bros.)
You know how sometimes incomparable and highly original pieces of awesome music seem to jump into your life at just the right time? For me, this album certainly falls into this category.
As a 13-year-old, hearing it for the first time was captivating, alluring and wonderfully confusing – here were musicians, GEEKY musicians even, ready to mock the world through the somehow perfect vehicle of New Wave.
Sounding like – here goes – Zappa, Pere Ubu and The Stooges played by Kraftwerk (if they were part time Dada-ist stand-up comics), this Brian Eno-produced album features catchy guitar riffs, gang vocals, synth noise, dance beats and off-kilter time signatures. Hey Dance Rock Of 2007, 1978 just called and it wants its steez back.
Self-described at the time as “the sound of things falling apart”, this early material is more raw, guitar-driven, angry and fun than their post-’81 synthpop work (ie ‘Whip It’). Trust me, they’re not some kind of joke band. The more you hear, the more you’ll realise that they’re the most serious band in the WORLD.
To conclude, The Devolutionary Oath, for reference purposes: 1. Be like your ancestors, or be different. It doesn’t matter. 2. Lay a million eggs, or give birth to one. 3. Wear gaudy colours or avoid display. It’s all the same. 4. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. 5. We Must Repeat!
[ssba]
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