Devo
Duty Now For The Future

THE REVIEW

Apparently, the songs on this second album by Devo from 1979 may seem like more mature reworkings of ideas already developed in their brilliant debut in 1978 ("Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!"), but it is surprising to note how the gestation of many tracks on both of these first two albums was simultaneous and dates back more or less to the mid-70s. However, it is undeniable to consider that in "Duty Now For The Future" the sound appears more mature and combines synthesized timbres, broken rhythms, and increasingly brainy and bizarre arrangements in a more integrated way. A greater variety of tones complements the cold uniformity of the debut, forming a new wayward fresco of disintegrated humanity. The world is falling apart, and the devolutionary, having paid its due for the future, has already adapted to the new environmental requirements; now that it is perfectly integrated, it no longer needs its emotional life, nor that extra chromosome.

Among perfect square heads fit for new habitats, suburban robots controlling reality, and exploding brains, subnormal life is always the same; only here the uncoordinated gestures of the "mongoloid" seem to go perfectly in time with a new form of modern dance, marked by the glacial cadence that animates most of the tracks. One dances, but as if forced by some sort of remote-controlled epilepsy, by a synthetic disease that annihilates our humanity but meanwhile keeps us alive, even if artificially.

Among the best tracks are the initial contortions of Timing X and Wiggly World, the sublime dementia of Pink Pussy Cat, the anguished crescendo of S.I.B., up to the grand finale of Smart Patron/Mr. Dna. In production, Ken Scott replaces Brian Eno. It's a pity that even he failed to grasp the explosive potential of the group's live sound: listen, to believe, to "Devo Live: The Mongoloid Years 1977-1975" (a collection of dim but furious live recordings before the official debut, with the devolutionary tracklist in reverse) or the anthologies "Hardcore Devo Vol. I and II" (with singles prior to 1978).