Devo's influence on music is so widespread these days that it's hard to not find a band that was, in some way, influenced by them. They haven't done much new lately, but a few years ago three members of the band got together with some other guy to form a surf band of sorts called The Wipeouters. Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Robert Casale, and Josh Mancell assembled to perform a number of guitars, samples, and keyboards to produce new music and also to release a theme to some Nickelodeon cartoon show. We won't go into detail about that.

If you have heard the later Devo albums or a lot of the soundtracks from Mark Mothersbaugh on cartoons and whatnot, you have a rough idea what this sounds like. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to be told that these songs are appearing elsewhere on TV soundtracks. The mostly instrumental sound with the various samples and grunts sounds like it might appeal to a young set of ears, and there's a few vaguely Polynesian sounds here and there which flesh out the sound to more than "Devo: The Surf Band."

Gerald Casale lends a hend on one of the tracks, "Luna Goona Park." This is also obviously not one meant to appeal to an older audience. Actually, we're not sure who this album should appeal to. The album label Casual Tonalities put out a lot of stuff related to Klasky-Csupo animation, and the packaging for this release is quite colorful. On the other hand, it's done by Devo (more or less) an is often filed with or next to Devo in finer record stores. That, and we have our doubts that songs like "Shut up, Little Man!" are meant to be anthems for the Nickelodeon set.

It's a fairly uneven release, with some fantastic tracks, some repetitive tracks, and some tracks which would likely appeal to your kids or nieces or nephews. Devo enthusiasts should consider this required listening, but fans of weird rock might find this as skewing too young for their liking. Still, it's neat and if you can find it on the cheap, it's well worth having.

--Adam Pawlus
May 3, 2004