While I was in high school and college, I always enjoyed listening to Devo. Hey what was not to like, catchy riffs, techno/punk rock, with a geeky concept? With smash MTV hits like “Whip-It”, “Satisfaction”, & Through Being Cool” they were always fun to watch and listen to. When I was off at college my brother Alan, who has always been a big influence on my musical tastes, turned me on to “Oh No! It’s Devo,” (1982) which was a masterpiece of prog-rock/punk fusion.

Now fast forward some, umm, well, a lot of years. Again, my brother Alan re-introduced me to Devo. You see, he’s picked up the drums and has been pounding on those things like it was the bosses head. And you guessed it, one of his favorite bands to jam to is Devo. We each rediscovered Devo’s greatness. Through the deep well that is BitTorrent, I was able to score their discography as well as some videos of complete concerts. After seeing them perform live, well at least on video, I was totally blown away.

Now I’ve seen a lot of concerts in my day. Some bands, just don’t transfer well to the whole reproduce their recorded sound, live. Well that’s certainly not the case for Devo. I guess essentially being a punk rock band helps. As my brother and I have come to realize many mainstream bands start off as punk bands, then evolve musically into more complex genres. Incubus and the Police are two such bands. My conclusion was that, when you get right down to it, punk rock is about the most simple type of rock there is. Sure there’s a big difference between the Sex Pistols, The Ramones, and Devo, but I think they all share a certain pureness that emerges from their simplicity.

After “Oh No! It’s Devo,” Devo only released three more Cd’s, the last coming in 1990. Now after 10 years, they’ve released “Something For Everyone.” Ladies and Germs, let me tell you, it is another masterpiece. Check out this brilliant video from one of the singles “Fresh” If anything, I’d say they sound better than ever. They’ve also picked back up where they’ve left off and are pimping the new CD all over late night television talk shows and have also hit the road for a new 2010 tour. Of course, they’re going to be performing in Indiana, and I hope Alan’s going to go, but the closest they’re coming to Puerto Rico is Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s easy to say that after watching them perform live and the total awesomeess that is “Something For Everyone,” I now want to see them more than ever. I remember them playing the 9:30 Club back when I was living close to Washington DC, but I’d have to say that was about the only opportunity that I can remember. So I’ve started to make some noize locally with a local promoter and will soon ratchet up the noize to see if there are any other Devo fans stuck on the island. My mission, and I’ve defnitely chosen to accept it, is to raize enough stink to get them to come to Puerto Rico; something which I don’t believe has ever happened. So how about, “Are we not men?”