Devo

Don't get me wrong: music with a message like Devo's remains important for its subversive qualities, but this documentary doesn't exactly avoid backfiring with self-indulgence and potential hypocrisy.

Yes, mindless consumerism and toxic capitalism is bad, but the same society they lampoon has awarded them a career. They know this (the doc nods to it in the second half) and while they're by no means the most shameless paradox in music (looking at you, Rage Against The Machine), you still can't help but cringe at the bigger picture unfolding in front of you with this film: privileged Me Generation ultimately changed nothing with their complaining and became the system they hated at varying degrees.

Especially when, during one particular archived interview, the members basically concede their pleasure in profiting from their fans and justifying it by audience numbers... the same logic used by their corporate and government peers.

Another flaw: the lack of insight to their core musicality. Mostly the film likes to cover social and thematic aspects of Devo, but almost no insight is offered about their actual music, the equipment, the historical place they have during post-punk and onward.

Devo's place in pop culture shouldn't be undercut but it also shouldn't be overstated. Ethos aside, in the greater story of music, they are still mostly that one-hit wonder band that made "Whip It". This doc tries to walk the middle-ground but can't totally get away with what it's trying to do, and frankly it's on the fringes of a puff piece.

Weird, strange, quirky, futuristic, innovative and all out rockin', Devo was unlike any other. An oddball hodgepodge of bizarro literature, Experimental music, Sci-Fi garb and pointedly biting anti-American satire that extends all over the globe, this motley troublemaking geeks rode out a run of great music and striking visuals during their peak late 1970s - early 1980s run. Fueled by the Kent State Massacre (which some of the band members witnessed firsthand), a desire to be different visually and musically, a manifesto unflattering to the human species and Punk Rock, the Akron, Ohio spud boys became an unlikely success offering a very different slant to Popular Music at the time.

"DEVO" charts the surreal saga in characteristic fashion: colorful and over the top in its barrage of visuals comprising interviews with the band members (an impressively articulate Gerald Casale stands out) as they go toe to toe with snippets of live footage and a varied array of films and images from vintage reels to historical snapshots. The result is a cornucopia of sight and sound and great music.

For a band as fun and as eccentric the documentary strangely moves at a conventional and sedate pace at the first half. A lack of perspective ensues with a failure to give emphasis on the band's impact and influence on music and the entertainment industry as a whole. Also, the band members' careers after the band's heyday are given short mention which is a shame considering Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale pursued eclectic and quite interesting artistic endeavors. This is a doc that could have been another hour long.

Whether looking like aliens in janitor's uniforms or a bunch of nerdy autists in early 20th-Century swimwear, all topped by those memorable saucer-shaped hats, Devo, all robotically-synchronized stage movements and mainstream infiltration-subversion, and again, great music (re-listening to their songs I was struck how fresh and much better they sounded) left a distinct and enduring mark. A fine tribute to a brilliant band, this is one fans and Rock enthusiasts should see.

This has to be one of the best and most well put together movie down to the overall feel with the music and the aesthetic of DEVO absolutely is amazing. I wish this documentary would be released to the public and not just in film festivals because it has truly inspired me and I've been trying to find this documentary since i saw it for the first time. This has also striked my idea on what my style is and has changed it for the better. I love how unique DEVO is as a whole and they are truly inspiring with their visuals and music. I truly hope that this eventually comes out and this is my last resort to write a review in hopes the director sees this!

Wow!!! Did I learn a lot about DEVO!!

I was unaware they were actually highly intelligent people trying to give a message politically to us all!!

So many people who were influenced by them and inspired by their music being it controversial mongoloid etc. Didn't know David Bowie had anything to do with them either.

I thought so many of their songs were great and real catchy and still get a buzz out of hearing them. Also now know why MTV do not play their music (didn't in the 80's) and haven't seen them since so that goes to show Sadly 2 of the four have died at a fairly youngish age but the 2 telling the story are fascinating to listen you.

DEVO (2025). Devo was one of the most innovative bands in rock history, but their very uniqueness became a double-edged sword for they were so ahead of their time, yet they were too often dismissed as a novelty act. Chris Smith's documentary does a good job tracing the origins and inevitable frustrations of the band. A sound clip in the opening montage describes them as "The Band Who Fell To Earth" - a clear reference to the David Bowie sci-fi film (a quite appropriate reference as Bowie would play a key role in launching the band).

Before they were even a band, Devo was an intellectual art project forged by twin events for the Ohio based artists. First, they were influenced by the outre theory of De-Evolution which included a pamphlet entitled "Jocko Homo" (credit much also go to Bob Lewis who was an early collaborator). Second, key members Jerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh were on campus and witnesses to the Kent State massacre in 1970. Add in a pinch of the classic horror film ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and what became Devo was born.

It took a few years, but Devo got seen and heard through their innovative short films which predated MTV and the music video revolution (which they became key contributors to). They made their way to NYC and got truly 'discovered' and noticed by the likes of John Lennon, Iggy Pop and Bowie (who eventually shephereded their first album in 1978 via Brian Eno). Even Mick Jagger got into the act as he personally signed off on Devo's first official single, a cover of "(Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Soon SNL called.

Smith's doc covers all of this in great detail and it makes up more than half of the running time. It's quite clear early on that Devo was never going to much more than a cult act. Their hit single "Whip It" also became a bit of an albatross as the record label kept demanding another hit (it was to be Devo's sole Top 40 record). Devo kept plugging away, touring, shooting videos, recording - rinse, repeat eventually putting out 8 albums during their initial incarnation.

In reality, by 1984 they had been somewhat abandoned by all but their most loyal fans and were dropped by their record label. Members began to quit (and sometimes come back), It may sound like a typical 'Behind The Music' career arc, but what what set the band apart was they never were really in it for the fame and fortune. They had a theory of man's de-evolutionary downward spiral and they preached and practiced it.

Devo may never get into the Rock Hall Of Fame although they've been nominated multiple times, but their experimental excellence endures. DEVO is a fine film tribute.