Thursday, March 12, 2009

DEVO: FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM IN 19 (!!!) YEARS AND UPCOMING LIVE PERFS

NOTE: special thanks to Kenny for sending me this press release.

Why is Yer Bunche smiling from ear to ear at the moment? I'll just let this one speak for itself:

DEVO ANNOUNCE NEW STUDIO ALBUM TO DEBUT FALL 2009 SXSW PRESS CONFERENCE AND KEYNOTE PANEL CONFIRMED FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 19 AT AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTERAUSTIN MUSIC HALL U.K. ONE-NIGHT-ONLY SXSW PERFORMANCE SET FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 20 AT PERFORMANCES ON TRACK

DT: MARCH 10, 2009

FR: LIBBY COFFEY-HENRY/MITCH SCHNEIDER

DEVO

ANNOUNCE NEW STUDIO ALBUM TO DEBUT FALL 2009

SXSW PRESS CONFERENCE AND KEYNOTE PANEL CONFIRMED FOR THURSDAY MARCH 19 AT AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER

ONE-NIGHT-ONLY

SXSW PERFORMANCE

SET FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 20 AT AUSTIN MUSIC HALL

U.K. PERFORMANCES ON TRACK FOR MAY INCLUDING A HEADLINING SPOT AT ‘ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES’

De-evolution has finally arrived...and who better to guide us through the mess than DEVO.

What the iconic new wave, art punk pioneers cautioned us about almost 30 years ago is no longer a humorous theory. It's pretty much fact--we now live in a devolved world that’s getting wackier each and every day.

The fall of 2009 will bring a new DEVO studio album, their first one since 1990’s Smooth Noodle Maps. It’ll mark their first new music since the strong fan reaction that greeted the 2007 single “Watch Us Work It,” their first new song in 18 years and one that was produced by Sweden’s TeddyBears (Robyn). They’re now in the studio putting the finishing touches on their new album (title TBA).

The five-piece--featuring co-founders and songwriters MARK MOTHERSBAUGH (lead vocals, synthesizer innovations) and GERALD CASALE (lead vocal, bass) and rounded out by BOB CASALE (guitarist), BOB MOTHERSBAUGH (guitars/vocals) and JOSH FREESE (drums)--are set make a special U.S. appearance at SXSW this year including a press conference (4:00pm) and keynote panel (5:00pm)--moderated by radio veteran Nic Harcourt--set for Thursday, March 19 at the Austin Convention Center (500 East Cesar Chavez St.). They’ll follow that up with a Friday, March 20 one-night-only SXSW concert at the Austin Music Hall (208 Nueces St.). Pre SXSW, DEVO fans in Dallas can catch a special one-off show on Wednesday, March 18 at the Palladium Ballroom. To purchase tickets, go here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0C004251D5078964?brand=aeglive.

In May, DEVO will head to the United Kingdom for a series of dates. On Wednesday, May 6, DEVO will perform their debut album, the seminal Q: Are We Not Men, We Are Devo! in its entirety from beginning to end at London’s Kentish Town Forum. Released in 1978, the seminal album produced by Brian Eno and recorded in Germany features such notable tracks such as the band’s cover of The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Mongoloid” and “Jocko Homo.” Next up on Friday, May 8, they’ll headline the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Somerset at the Butlins Holiday Centre.

Formed in 1972 in Akron, OH, DEVO--short for “de-evolution”--began as an art project cautioning that humans were devolving and regressing into a herd mentality of American society, not evolving. A conceptual band from the beginning, DEVO were ahead of their time, incorporating elaborate aesthetics into their live shows and seamlessly combining their music with visuals years before MTV or any music-video culture existed. Indeed, the group’s first appearance at Kent State University in 1973 was recorded with a black and white portable video system. Societal satirists, DEVO’s lyrical mix of comedy and quirky wit, warned of the dangers of rampant capitalism in “Whip It” and “Freedom of Choice”, and the devolution of society in “Jocko Homo” and ”Beautiful World.“ Onstage in their early incarnation, the group began with a mixture of synthesizers and rock instruments; as they developed in the late seventies and early eighties, DEVO became one of the first American acts to perform using only synthesizers. DEVO have now returned with an evolved look, ready to impact the vastly devolved world we now find ourselves trying to navigate.

Expect more news regarding DEVO soon and catch up with them at:

www.clubdevo.com

www.myspace.com/devo


Current DEVO tour dates are as follows:

DATE CITY VENUE

Dallas show

Wed 3/18 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom

SXSW (one-night-only)

Fri 3/20 Austin, TX Austin Music Hall

London show

Wed 5/6 London, UK Kentish Town Forum

All Tomorrow’s Parties

Fri 5/8 Somerset, UK Butlins Holiday Centre (Minehead)

DEVO full-length album discography:

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978 Warner Bros.)

Duty Now for the Future (1979 Warner Bros.)

Freedom of Choice (1980 Warner Bros.)

New Traditionalists (1981 Warner Bros.)

Oh, No! It's Devo (1982 Warner Bros.)

Shout (1984 Warner Bros.)

E-Z Listening Disc (1987 Rykodisc)

Total Devo (1988 Enigma)

Now It Can Be Told (Devo at the Palace 12/9/88) (Live album, 1989 Enigma)

Smooth Noodle Maps (1990 Enigma)

For DEVO publicity, contact MSO:

Libby Coffey-Henry

818-380-0400 ext. 224

Lhenry@msopr.com

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7 comments:

  1. Satyrblade10:42 AM

    So, I wonder where this leaves their erstwhile kiddie spin-off group Devo 2.0. ;)

    Seriously, cool. It took me a while to get into Devo, but time has certainly been on their side - gods help us all!

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  2. Bunche (pop culture ronin)1:57 PM

    As far as I'm aware Devo 2.0 came and went. One album and then nothing.

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  3. Anonymous4:24 PM

    Say Kids!

    Maybe if we all get together and start a letter writing campaign to Disney Records, Devo 2.0 will re-form and bring joy and hope to a strife filled world!

    Gee! Wouldnt that be swell?

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  4. Bunche (pop culture ronin)5:33 PM

    If you ask me, the artistic point of Devo 2.0 was almost sound, namely taking the whole "de-evolution" thing and mordant humor as something modular that could be handed on to new musicians and guided by the original Devo — specifically Gerry Casale and mark Mothersbaugh — once the real deal got too old, but trying to turn them into viable competition for the likes of Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers and the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL gang was ridiculous. Part of the band's strength was its lyrics and "adult" take on things, so the self-censoring of their songs neutered their mojo. For example taking Gerry's anti-George W. Bush tune "If the Shoe Fits" and completely rewriting its profane vitriol into the innocuous would-be inspirational "The Winner" is downright disingenuous. I keep the album solely as a Devo-related curiosity, although it did get me through some of the worst days at the barbecue joint by virtue of being oddball covers of my favorite band. Come to think of it, I haven't listened to it since, and I left the place two years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bunche (pop culture ronin)5:37 PM

    And before you go searching your Devo albums for an anti-George Bush tune on albums that came out almost twenty years ago or more, "If the Shoe Fits" can be found on Gerry's solo album, Jihad Gerry and the Evildoers' "MIne Is Not A Holy War." To the best of my knowledge, Devo proper never performed it, but it was definitely heard over the sound system between the opening acts and the main attraction at a Devo show I saw a few years back.

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  6. Satyrblade11:29 AM

    I just found the whole thing absurd... which, of course, it was SUPPOSED to be, at least on Mothersbaugh's end. The idea of some tweenie pop chick singing "Whip It" - on a Disney album, no less - struck me as pretty funny, but not funny enough to buy the album. And no big surprise they changed the title of "Jocko Homo," either! :)

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  7. Kevie Metal6:35 PM

    Hey, I just realized, wasn't "Whip It" written in support of Jimmy Carter? Telling a Democratic president to ignore the haytas and show some balls. So right now is the perfect time for that song to come back!

    ReplyDelete