A Netflix documentary presents DEVO's evolution from Kent State roots through post-punk innovation, MTV prominence, and ongoing cultural relevance. Band members report they did not actively pursue a documentary and that repeated efforts to explain their ideas often encountered indifference from mainstream rock narratives. The documentary foregrounds the group's de-evolution concept, hippie-era influences, and a musical response to 1970s paranoia. Ambitions to pioneer new sounds, a fascination with futurist art and media, and unexpected collaborations such as a late jam with Neil Young are featured. The group is gearing up for a Cosmic Devolution tour with The B-52's and jokes their farewell could extend to Mars colonies.
Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale joined Kyle Meredith to talk about the film, which charts the band's path from Kent State to post-punk pioneers to MTV oddities to cultural prophets who survived long enough to tour with The B-52's (get tickets here!). It's been a long time coming, but in true DEVO fashion, the doc doesn't offer an "ultimate truth" - just one version of their truth filtered through another outsider's lens. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mothersbaugh and Casale admit they never really chased a DEVO doc until it kind of landed on them. "We were always just moving forward," Mothersbaugh says, noting that years of trying to explain themselves only seemed to fall on deaf ears. Casale adds, "Rock 'n' roll has two or three very basic dumb ideas, and people default to that. They didn't want to hear about de-evolution." Still, the doc captures the band's half-century of art, noise, and theory better than most ever tried.
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