Devo/ Something For Everybody

Devo
Something For Everybody
(Warner Brothers Records)

Kurt Cobain once remarked that Devo were "the most challenging and subversive of all" bands who'd grown from the underground into the mainstream. Yet having not released an album in 20 years, some of the younger pups would be forgiven for asking "just who in hell are these weirdos?"
This is where my rapid-fire biographies come in handy: formed in 1973, the name 'Devo' comes from the band's belief that the human race had peaked in evolutionary terms and was now devolving. Taking in surrealism, post punk and new wave, the band pioneered the music video, wore bright yellow jumpsuits and then... then they kinda disappeared. Uhu. It's been 20 years since the last Devo album. Loosen that collar and prepare to be nervous.
Or rather, prepare to have some fun - because 'Something For Everybody' is an energetic, almost europop-sounding record with some pretty smart ideas. The band's mixture of dystopian wisecracks and subversively commercial melodies is alive and well on 'Don't Shoot (I'm A Man)', while the band sound as sharp as ever on 'Fresh' and 'Mind Games'.
If you came to this blind to the history of Devo you might well mistake it for a kids action cartoon soundtrack, such is the luminous energy on offer, yet when the band kick back with some reflective piano on 'March On', it suits them equally well. A remarkably solid comeback.