Devo

                     

Chris Smith's Devo is a friendly documentary that captures the nervy energy of the new wave unit. I never thought of them as anything but a singles band, but the film captures their roots in the conceptual art of the 1960s. They were pioneers in wedding video images to their music before MTV. The documentary pays scant attention to the band members' families and upbringing in Ohio. The members remain relatively anonymous throughout the film, not that Devo had many wild escapades, they seem like art school nerds who don't talk about their feelings. Also, the point of Devo was never individuality, but a conformity somewhat derivative of Kraftwerk with a dose of spastic punk and funk. Instead of robots, they were devoluted cogs in a corporate machine, dressed identically and wearing Dadaist hats or plastic hairpieces. They were a cult band who lucked into a hit single, Whip It whose video is pictured above, but they were like most pop units with a quick rise and fall.

Smith does a very good job illustrating the Kent State killings of 1970. A number of band members were attending that institution and witnessed the death of four students that day in May, propelling them away from demonstrations and into snarky protest art. The documentary shows that they were ambivalent about popular success, they knew what goes up must come down, but they hobnobbed with rock royalty (Bowie, Eno, Neil Young) and went on innumerable chat shows (Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas) to plug their product. Smith takes full advantage of the surreal kick of their appearances on the tube and their stage show. Lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh has had the most success after the bands heyday as a composer for film and television. He gets the most screen time, which is somewhat apt, but also frustrating. The lives of certain bandmates are hardly sketched at all. Still, the film never overstays it welcome. It is currently streaming on Netflix.