Leave It to DEVO
August 21, 2012 8:57 AM Subscribe
DEVO have released their latest single. It's about a dog.
"Don't Roof Rack Me Bro" is a tune about a family pet you may have heard of who took a ride atop a car. Enjoy.
"Don't Roof Rack Me Bro" is a tune about a family pet you may have heard of who took a ride atop a car. Enjoy.
And it's totally not partisan. The band said so.
posted by localroger at 9:13 AM on August 21, 2012
posted by localroger at 9:13 AM on August 21, 2012
Are we not men?
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:16 AM on August 21, 2012
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:16 AM on August 21, 2012
Awesome. I have tix to see Devo next month, and I'm super excited.
It's worth noting, this isn't the first Seamus-related dog song.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:16 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's worth noting, this isn't the first Seamus-related dog song.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:16 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
I loves me some DEVO, but this song really falls flat for me. Sounds very phoned-in, frankly.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:19 AM on August 21, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 9:19 AM on August 21, 2012 [3 favorites]
I have never been a DEVO fan, but this is beneath them.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:22 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:22 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
As a DEVO fan, I'm going to pretend they didn't do this. It's light years from the sly intelligence of their debut album, which is still ahead of its time.
posted by davebush at 9:25 AM on August 21, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by davebush at 9:25 AM on August 21, 2012 [5 favorites]
That's one of the better songs written, recorded, mastered, and uploaded in less than 15 minutes I've ever heard.
posted by zephyr_words at 9:32 AM on August 21, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by zephyr_words at 9:32 AM on August 21, 2012 [3 favorites]
I have always been a DEVO fan, but this is beneath them.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:34 AM on August 21, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:34 AM on August 21, 2012 [4 favorites]
Please, people, please stop naming your dogs "Seamus."
Thanks,
Father of child name Seamus.
posted by bondcliff at 9:35 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Thanks,
Father of child name Seamus.
posted by bondcliff at 9:35 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
heh.. I thought it was just me and being older than dirt... you guys can stay on my lawn.
posted by HuronBob at 9:43 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by HuronBob at 9:43 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Wait, Devo is still around ?
That is amazing - they really rode that one song for all its worth.
posted by Flood at 10:07 AM on August 21, 2012
That is amazing - they really rode that one song for all its worth.
posted by Flood at 10:07 AM on August 21, 2012
Any other Devo fans notice the tune came from the Hardcore era?
posted by luckynerd at 10:16 AM on August 21, 2012
posted by luckynerd at 10:16 AM on August 21, 2012
Well shoot, I really wanted to like this, but I didn't much. Still love Devo though, and I'll still tell my granddaughter that Mark the artist guy on Yo Gabba Gabba is in a great band that has some of the best sing-along songs ever.
posted by Phyllis Harmonic at 10:27 AM on August 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Phyllis Harmonic at 10:27 AM on August 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
As a DEVO fan, I'm going to pretend they didn't do this. It's light years from the sly intelligence of their debut album, which is still ahead of its time.
So instead of evolving as a band, they did the opposite?
posted by burnmp3s at 10:28 AM on August 21, 2012 [14 favorites]
So instead of evolving as a band, they did the opposite?
posted by burnmp3s at 10:28 AM on August 21, 2012 [14 favorites]
I always find it interesting when someone famous (or a group of famous people) who have retired from the thing that makes them famous comes back to do reunion-type stuff right after a recession kicks in.
just sayin'.
posted by davejay at 10:49 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
just sayin'.
posted by davejay at 10:49 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
I COULD TOTALLY BE A BETTER DEVO THAN DEVO GO AHEAD CAST ME IN BEING MARK MOTHERSBAUGH. sheesh
posted by JHarris at 10:55 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 10:55 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'ma let you get back to your hate-fest in just a minute, but Devo's Satisfaction is the greatest cover song of all time. OF ALL TIME!
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:08 AM on August 21, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:08 AM on August 21, 2012 [6 favorites]
"Don't Roof Rack Me, Bro" has already gotten more attention than Devo's 2010 LP, Something for Everybody. "That album had Warner Bros. and a brilliant marketing team behind it," Casale says. "It never got us anything like we did with this song. It's topical and we really tapped into something."
That makes me sort of sad. It's like every successful song in the future is going to be a variation on "Pac Man Fever".
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:42 AM on August 21, 2012 [5 favorites]
That makes me sort of sad. It's like every successful song in the future is going to be a variation on "Pac Man Fever".
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:42 AM on August 21, 2012 [5 favorites]
The verse's vocal riff sounds like "Walkin' the Dog", was that planned?
posted by telstar at 12:29 PM on August 21, 2012
posted by telstar at 12:29 PM on August 21, 2012
song is alright, but the band seems to have experienced devolution over the years
posted by RTQP at 1:23 PM on August 21, 2012
posted by RTQP at 1:23 PM on August 21, 2012
For me, DEVO's discography stops after "Freedom of Choice" - the point where they gave up and stopped caring that they were being misunderstood. It's a shame that they're mainly viewed as a novelty act. I've said it before - the first album is brilliant art.
posted by davebush at 1:25 PM on August 21, 2012
posted by davebush at 1:25 PM on August 21, 2012
The song, as a song, is fine. It's catchy. I wouldn't change the channel if it came on while I was in my car. But as a Devo song it's not up there. It's not Devo enough.
posted by Splunge at 1:26 PM on August 21, 2012
posted by Splunge at 1:26 PM on August 21, 2012
Heard it the day it came out, and it was so bad I didn't even post it in the Romney/Ryan thread. Awful song. I kind of knew it would be bad when you're using memes that are decades old in internet time as the title.
posted by cashman at 1:27 PM on August 21, 2012
posted by cashman at 1:27 PM on August 21, 2012
I was in the kitchen, Seamus, that's the dog, was outside.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 3:30 PM on August 21, 2012
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 3:30 PM on August 21, 2012
What's all this "I'm a long time DEVO fan" but no familiarity with anything after Oh, No! It's DEVO?
The E-Z Listening Disc is quite amazing for its interpretations of many DEVO "standards". Shout and Total Devo are also pretty solid. There is not a bad track on (the original release) Shout which includes a great cover of "Are You Experienced?" while Total Devo has "Baby Doll", "Disco Dancer", "Plain Truth", "I'd Cry if You Died", and "Sexi Luv" as noteworthy tracks.
Something for Everybody is a bit uneven, but "Fresh", "Please Baby Please", "Human Rocket", "Step Up", "Signal", and "Knock Boots" quite prove DEVO is still as relevant and zeitgeist-piercing as they ever were.
The current track under discussion is a bit of a bomb, I agree, but it's not out of character for DEVO (e.g. "Jimmy" on the album-I-did-not-(yet-)mention). It seems once the 80s ended DEVO left behind any fear of being didactic, which didacticism seems inexorably to produce a compromised aesthetic. (In other words, the idea that something is "beneath" DEVO doesn't make any sense. I mean, this is DEVO, right?!)
Yeah, I skipped over Smooth Noodle Maps whose only compelling track is "Pink Jazz Trancers"
posted by mistersquid at 6:50 PM on August 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
The E-Z Listening Disc is quite amazing for its interpretations of many DEVO "standards". Shout and Total Devo are also pretty solid. There is not a bad track on (the original release) Shout which includes a great cover of "Are You Experienced?" while Total Devo has "Baby Doll", "Disco Dancer", "Plain Truth", "I'd Cry if You Died", and "Sexi Luv" as noteworthy tracks.
Something for Everybody is a bit uneven, but "Fresh", "Please Baby Please", "Human Rocket", "Step Up", "Signal", and "Knock Boots" quite prove DEVO is still as relevant and zeitgeist-piercing as they ever were.
The current track under discussion is a bit of a bomb, I agree, but it's not out of character for DEVO (e.g. "Jimmy" on the album-I-did-not-(yet-)mention). It seems once the 80s ended DEVO left behind any fear of being didactic, which didacticism seems inexorably to produce a compromised aesthetic. (In other words, the idea that something is "beneath" DEVO doesn't make any sense. I mean, this is DEVO, right?!)
Yeah, I skipped over Smooth Noodle Maps whose only compelling track is "Pink Jazz Trancers"
posted by mistersquid at 6:50 PM on August 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
In other words, the idea that something is "beneath" DEVO doesn't make any sense. I mean, this is DEVO, right?!
They need a chick.
posted by Nomyte at 7:49 PM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
They need a chick.
posted by Nomyte at 7:49 PM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
mistersquid: "Pink Jazz Trancers" is the one track on Smooth Noodle Maps I don't like. That squishy, squelchy snare is especially atrocious. The rest of the album is, to me, highly underrated.
posted by SansPoint at 5:03 AM on August 22, 2012
posted by SansPoint at 5:03 AM on August 22, 2012
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