features in: Album Chart of 1978 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die  |
De-evolution = the theory that we're de-evolving as a species was initially a bit of a joke, but who's to say we aren't dealing with Orwellian levels of prescient genius here? Ha! Several years of gestation finally led to their first full-length in August, 1978, with none other than Brian Eno (who seems omnipresent in this year) playing an important role in the production. Nice connections if you can get them. The dry jokers lined up: Mark Mothersbaugh (28, vocals, keyboards, guitar), Gerald Casale (30, vocals, bass guitar, keyboards), Bob Mothersbaugh (26, lead guitar, backing vocals), Bob Casale (26, rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Alan Myers (23, drums). [note: 2 sets of brothers, this is a tightly knit group broadcasting on the same wavelength.] There was some good stuff onboard; I particularly cared for “Come Back Jonee” (which turns out to be a rock n roll tribute to JFK) and the ever-building “Gut Feeling”, which begins in a 60s Byrds-esque Jangle, before moving on to a very Stranglers-like take on new wave and ending in a barbed assault which foretells the entire hardcore scene, fittingly seguing into the fast and furious punker “Slap Your Mammy”. Album highlight “Space Junk” features Eno playing additional synthesizers, as well as adding distorted vocals. It’s a song about death via flying rivot at 17,500 mph: “Well she was walking, All alone, Down the street, In the alley, Her name was Sally, I never touched her, She never saw it, When she was hit by (space junk), She was fragged by (space junk), She was killed by (space junk)”. Ouch. Poor Sally. They have a vivid imagination. Sing the absurb Devo, I like it.
The Jukebox Rebel
10–Mar–2016
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [03:09]  Devo - Uncontrollable Urge (Mark Mothersbaugh) New Wave |
| A2 | [02:40]  Devo - (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) New Wave |
| A3 | [02:47]  Devo - Praying Hands (Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale) New Wave |
| A4 | [02:14]  Devo - Space Junk (Gerald Casale, Bob Mothersbaugh) New Wave |
| A5 | [03:44]  Devo - Mongoloid (Gerald Casale) New Wave |
| A6 | [03:40]  Devo - Jocko Homo (Mark Mothersbaugh) New Wave |
| B1 | [01:57]  Devo - Too Much Paranoias (Mark Mothersbaugh) New Wave |
| B2 | [04:54]  Devo - Gut Feeling / "(Slap Your Mammy)" (Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale, Bob Mothersbaugh) New Wave |
| B3 | [03:47]  Devo - Come Back Jonee (Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale) New Wave |
| B4 | [02:40]  Devo - Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’) (Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale, Bob Mothersbaugh, Gary Jackett) New Wave |
| B5 | [03:05]  Devo - Shrivel-Up (Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale, Bob Mothersbaugh) New Wave |
