Perhaps one of the most notorious bands to ever emerge from the Buckeye State, Devo was born in Akron in 1973. Forerunners of punk and new wave, the band blended humor, satire, pop and electronic experimentation in a completely idiosyncratic manner. To say they were ahead of their time is certainly accurate, both as a descriptor and in relation to their theory of de-evolution.
Devo broke-up in 1991, but since 1995 have sporadically reunited for increasing amounts of activity. Last year they released their first new album in 20 years, Something for Everybody, and have toured in support of it. Tonight, the spud boys will be at Irving Plaza. Here’s a reminder of how great these weirdos are, the video for “Time Out for Fun,” off of 1982′s Oh, No! It’s Devo.
While New Yorkers tend to believe that punk rock sprang out of the grimy confines of CBGB’s, there are plenty of scholars who will point to Cleveland as ground zero for such abrasive sounds. However, it’s kind of a chicken-and-the-egg moot point, as the two cities are forever inextricably linked. Those who favor the Rust Belt theory point to Rocket from the Tombs as punk’s prime movers, but few heard the band during their initial tenure, and besides, their primal racket was shaped by the Velvet Underground, who played in Cleveland more than any other city besides New York, their home stomping grounds. Sure, when Rocket splintered into Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys, the latter moved to NYC and ingratiated themselves into the Bowery scene (CBGB’s owner Hilly Kristal ended up managing them), but the Ramones et al. were already well on their way by then.
