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Devo Reveal Truth About De-Evolution, Part 2

After all these years, the truth can be told.

Jerry Casale distances any nascent Devo comeback from

the likes of the Pistols by cautioning that they wouldn't just toss on the

flower pots and play 'Whip It,' but write new songs that would not make it

retro. "We'd still employ a lot of the ideas and wit and the strange

juxtaposition of sounds and progressions and lyrics, but it wouldn't be a

re-hash.

But, you might ask (I did), "Is there still juice left in the

De-evolution concept? "Certainly, now more than ever," laughs Casale, "when

you're commenting on human nature itself there's never any problem finding

inspiration, that's a deep well to draw from." What then, are the signs that we

are still de-evolving? "Well, seeing 'we don't give a shit,' 'die, die, die'

with 30,000 people with tattoos that say 'white power' on each arm. I'm looking

at de-evolution, it's happened. And the fact that it's done without a sense of

irony and sponsored by the corporate entertainment state. It's perfect. It's

exactly what we were talking about. We were only making a joke and we never

really wanted that to happen, but, of course you kind of have pre-cognizance

that it will happen, which is why you make the joke. Now we're really hitting

it. Now the audience really is from the 'Island of Dr. Moreau,'" he says with

snickering glee.

Since their last album, 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps

, and a disappointing European tour, the various members have gone their

own way. Mothersbaugh turned to writing music for television shows like

"Pee-Wee's Playhouse" while Casale concentrated on directing music videos

(Toadies) and spent two years trying to get his script for a movie about '50's

pin-up model Betty Page sold to a studio. "Nobody would go for it then, they

thought I was sick for pitching it, but now that a feminist director is making

it, it's okay," he says, not really trying to conceal his disappointment...

[Please use "Continued" icon for rest of story.]



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