DEVO - DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE @ 45

 

Marking 45 years on the shelves today is the sophomore LP from Akron Ohio mutants, DEVO, with Duty Now For the Future being released on June 1st, 1979. While it was critically disparaged at the time of its release, fans know it's an essential sequel to their debut, documenting, as the first album did, the band's early catalogue of music.

Forming in 1974 as a response to the Kent State massacre of students by police in 1970, DEVO spent their early career amassing a staggering catalogue of original songs before they ever got the chance to step into a professional recording studio to produce a major label LP. Their 1978 debut put a reasonable dent in that backlog, but they still had plenty enough for their second album, with enough to spare to, years later, fill a double CD set of early demos (Hardcore DEVO -Volumes 1 & 2, 1990/91). Only three new songs were brought in to fill out their second outing: "Red Eye", "S.I.B." and "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise".

Their debut album was produced by Brian Eno, but the relationship during that effort was slightly strained and the band were eager to learn from different people, so they wanted to work with a different producer for their next album. In fact, throughout their career, they've never worked with the same producer more than once. For their second LP, they chose Ken Scott, who had previously worked with The Beatles as an engineer and produced David Bowie's Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. While the atmosphere in the studio was professional and pleasant by all accounts, in retrospect, several members of the band didn't feel he understood the sound they were wanting to achieve. For this album, rather than perform in the studio as a band to lay down bed tracks, every instrument was layered individually, playing off a click track. That approach ended up siphoning some of the edge off the band's sound, muting the dynamics which had been so prevalent on their first album. Overall, the production simply doesn't have the same punchy heft that Eno was able to get on their debut, a situation that didn't go unnoticed by critics, who felt the album sounded lacklustre. The flat production is compensated for, however, by the strength of the songs, especially the older, more developed material.

For the album's cover design, a dummy bar-code was integral to the design. Bar-codes were just starting to come into use at the end of the '70s, so there was a kind of novelty futurism inherent in its graphic presence. The central photo of the band was stamped with perforations so that it could be popped out of the cover and used a postcard. This was something the label refused to pay for, so the cost of the processing had to be taken out of the band's advance. The photograph of the band was taken by photographer Allan Tannenbaum for the SoHo Weekly News in New York City. It was used in the album artwork by simply taking it from the front page of the newspaper in the exact same dimensions, unbeknownst to the photographer. When he discovered this, he contacted the record company and was paid for its use. The "Science Boy" logo originated from a science pamphlet the band had found in the late 1970s in Akron. After first using it on a promotional item for Virgin Records, the band were contacted by the original organization that had created the image for their logo, which resulted in them paying to acquire legal rights to it.

Upon release, the album sold well, but was met with some harsh criticism. Dave Marsh, writing in Rolling Stone, condemned the album, feeling that "inspired amateurism works only when the players aspire to something better." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice panned side one as "dire" and "arena-rock", but felt that "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise" and "Secret Agent Man" were "as bright as anything on the debut, and the arrangements offer their share of surprises." Red Starr of Smash Hits described it as "unimpressive", but noted that the "change of style definitely grows on you". They went on to say that, although the album was more accessible, it was "lacking the zany magic of old".

Personally, I've always thought the band's first two albums delivered an effective "one-two punch", with enough variation in the style and approach to allow each to stand as a distinctive representation of different aspects of the band. Yes, I did find the lack of dynamics on the second album less engaging than their debut, but classic tunes, like Clockout, Blockhead, Pink Pussycat and Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA, made the album essential and unforgettable.