DEVO

Have you spent at least a decade in college without declaring a major? Do you consider the Mac/PC debate a raging one? Do you own a Star Wars toy? Is it still in the package? If you answered yes to the above questions, chances are you're a Devo fan. Sure, we all know the radio hits "Whip It" and "Peek-A-Boo," but it takes a special breed of person to be a real fan -- generally, developmentally impaired males in their thirties for whom a T-shirt without holes in it is a "dress shirt." Devo's robo-funk guitars and analog synths evoked a futurism held over from The Jetsons and Barbarella; their lyrics are told from the point of view of hyper-logical Vulcans attempting to explain the ways of "those crazy Earthlings." At times this collection of oddments works compellingly, but never as well as it did on their 1982 tour de force Freedom of Choice. Devo's music still possesses a special ability to make the world you take for granted seem interesting and odd. In which case, if you aren't a Devo fan, maybe you should be.