RELEASED 9.7.2010
1. Watch Us Work It 2:14 2. Fresh 2:59 3. Sumthin' 2:46 4. Don't Shoot (I'm A Man) 3:26 5. Step Up 3:00 6. Signal Ready 2:06 7. What We Do 3:17 8. Please Baby Please 2:41 9. Let's Get To It 2:56 $ 10. Later Is Now 3:52 11. Mind Games 2:30 12. Human Rocket 3:22
Something for Everybody is the ninth studio album by American New Wave band Devo. The album was released on June 15, 2010 after previously being slated for release in May 2010, pushed back from its original release date of late 2009 due to "radical remixing." This album will mark 20 years since the release of Devo's last studio album Smooth Noodle Maps in 1990. The album is being released through their original label Warner Bros., the first Devo album to be issued via the label since Shout in 1984. The cover depicts a woman referred to as the "Sexy Candy Dome Girl"[1] holding a blue energy dome to her mouth.
Though a new Devo album had been considered as far back as the band's 1996 reunion, efforts by Gerald Casale to get one off the ground were repeatedly unsuccessful. Devo produced some new material in the late 1990s and early 2000s—mostly for soundtracks and commercials—and toured regularly, but a new album had not been forthcoming. In interviews, Casale described the situation as "a cocoon of silence" and his solo project Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers was an attempt to spawn new Devo material. However, following the 2007 release of the non-album single "Watch Us Work It," Casale indicated that the band might be ready to work on a new album. That same year, LA Weekly, in an article on Mark Mothersbaugh's production studio Mutato Muzika, reported that, "After touring sporadically over the past decade but not releasing any new material, Devo are spending December at Mutato trying to create an album’s worth of new material and contemplating a method of dispersal in the post-record-company world." [2] In a later interview, Mark Mothersbaugh revealed a song title from the in-progress album ("Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)") [3], but hopes were briefly deflated when Jerry stated that Mark had "killed the project" and that there would be no new Devo album.[4] Casale eventually stated that Devo would "finish what we started" [5] and later interviews confirmed that Devo would complete their new album.[6] The "Studio Notes" section of the November 27th issue of Rolling Stone stated that "Devo are working on their first album of new material since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps. 'We have about 17 songs we're testing out,' says frontman Mark Mothersbaugh. 'We've already been contacted by 20 producers—including Snoop Dogg, Santigold, and Fatboy Slim.'" Fall 2009 was confirmed as a possible release date at the time.[7][8] Devo announced in early 2009 that they would be performing at the South by Southwest International Conference in Austin, Texas on March 20 with a warmup show in Dallas on March 18. At these shows, Devo performed a new stage show utilizing synchronized video, similar to what they had done for their 1982 tour. They also debuted new costumes and three new songs: "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)," "What We Do" and "Fresh." All of these songs included a video backdrop which the band performed in front of. On Friday, April 10, 2009, Devo debuted the music video for "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)" on their website, through Vimeo.[9] In an interview for the website "Subba-Cultcha", Casale stated that "regardless of the final [album] title, it will be 'Fresh'!"[10] This statement led to speculation among fans that Fresh would be the new album's title. According to the "In the Studio" section of the June 2009 Rolling Stone, the album was pushed back to 2010 to allow for "radical remixing".[11] In late 2009, Devo announced that it had signed a new contract with their original label, Warner Brothers, to release their new album. In an interview with Gerald Casale in late October 2009, he announced that Devo's new album would be picking up from where they left off: "We think it’s the best record that we’d ever done although we’re not certain that Fresh will be the title. There are more good songs on this album than any other record that we’ve made. We’re aiming for a spring release." [12] In January 2010, Billboard wrote a preview of the upcoming album, stating that it would be released in April 2010. In the interview, it was stated that Casale hoped to call the album "Something for Everybody, despite the publicized working title of Fresh."[13] The final track listing was still being decided but was likely to feature the high-energy (and "focus group-approved," according to Casale) "Please Baby Please" as well as tracks produced by Greg Kurstin and John Hill. On January 17, 2010, it was announced that Devo would be performing on the second day of the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.[14] On February 22, 2010, Devo performed at one of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics victory concerts at Whistler Medals Plaza. They returned to the SXSW conference in Austin, TX on March 11 to conduct a panel entitled "Devo, The Internet & You."[15] On April 17, 2010, the same day as both their performance at the Coachella festival and Record Store Day, Devo released a 12-inch vinyl record of "Fresh" backed with "What We Do." A sticker on the sleeve confirmed that the title of the new Devo album would be Something for Everybody. On April 20, Devo released the Song Study EP on iTunes which contained the same tracks as the 12-inch vinyl along with the addition of the "Song Study Video." That night, Devo performed "Fresh" and "Whip It" on Jimmy Kimmel Live where it was announced that the album would be released on June 15. For one week beginning on June 10, the album was streamed online through Colbert Nation.[16]