Devo, the new-wave band famed for its terraced headgear and the catchy ditty “Whip It,” is putting the finishing touches on its first studio album since 1990.
The as-yet-untitled release is scheduled to come out in the fall. It marks Devo’s first new music since the 2007 single “Watch Us Work It” and first album since 1990’s “Smooth Noodle Maps.”
Co-founder Gerald Casale said via email that Devo was “in serious negotiations with three major labels” and an announcement would be made in the near future.
“The delivery method will be novel and cross-platform, taking advantage of the strange state of the economy and Devo’s culturally relevant brand,” he added.
Casale is joined in the lineup by fellow co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh, and two members from the band’s classic 1975-1985 lineup: guitarists Bob Casale and Bob Mothersbaugh. Session musician Josh Freese is filling in on drums.
Alan Myers, who played drums with Devo during that decade, is now an electrician in Los Angeles. He told Reuters that he was “completely out of the loop,” and pursues his own musical ventures when not working at his day job.
“Musically and personally, it’s not something that I would be attracted to,” Myers said of Devo.
Casale said Freese has injected “fresh, youthful, devolved energy” into the band.
Devo will perform at the South by SouthWest music festival in Austin, Texas, on March 20, and will perform a pair of U.K. shows in May.
The band, whose name is a contraction of “de-evolution,” formed in 1972 in Akron, Ohio, as a quirky surrealist concept. Besides “Whip It,” the band also recorded offbeat covers of the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Allen Toussaint’s “Working in the Coal Mine.” Mark Mothersbaugh went on to become a successful film and TV composer.
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