Devo 2.0

In an earlier post I talked about picking up a copy of the new Devo 2.0 album.

Last Friday I did just that. After listening to it a few times I wanted to share my thoughts.

(In the interests of disclosure I will point out that I work for the Walt Disney Company, who released this record.)

If you like Devo and you have young kids, you should get this record. The arrangements are a little different but absolutely familiar, and some of the cynicism and innuendo of the original lyrics have been replaced. I'm sure that many of The Faithful will chafe at these rewrites - and some of them are a bit silly - but they don't do any harm at all to the overall groove factor, which remains high.

Some of the changes? The two that spring to mind involve "Uncontrollable Urge" and "Jerkin' Back And Forth." The original "Uncontrollable Urge" was not about the uncontrollable urge to have a snack, and "Jerkin' Back And Forth" did not concern itself with a mere infectious groove. But to me, these changes amount to window dressing. Sure, it waters down the subversive message of the original material - but just how subversive a message did you want from your children's music? My kids are in first grade. There will be plenty of time for that stuff later.

And in the meantime, I'm thrilled to have some so-called kid's music that I can stand to listen to in the car.