Devo "Q: Are We Not Men?..." [1978]

To say Devo was ahead of their time is a huge understatement: this was "Revenge of the Nerds" five years early -- a classic case of premature extrapolation. The music on this record is so unbelievably dorky, at times I can hear the songs dumping their own books. Basically, take from rock 'n roll everything cool, comfortable and attractive, and just leave the obnoxious abrasiveness and repetition: that's "Are We Not Men?" Not that the Stones didn't deserve to have "Satisfaction" de-pantsed in the high school hallway, but the effect is counterproductive when all Devo can manage is to give themselves a wedgie with it. Like most reproachful geeks, beneath the bespectacled, pimply surface of Devo lies deeply bitter meanness: how big of an insensitive jerk do you have to be to write "Mongoloid" or "Slap Your Mammy"? And while I'm sure the members of this band are going for something more robotically futuristic, what one discovers when listening to "Are We Not Men?" is that all humanity is ultimately doomed to failure as long as people like Devo exist.