While it may have come as a bit of a shock last month when Devo members Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald V. Casale bluntly revealed their motivations for calling it quits after their current tour (“Imagine you had four wives and you worked together,” Mothersbaugh quipped), we still have plenty to be grateful for. In addition to that imminent set of upcoming live dates, as well as recent solo material from Casale and Mothersbaugh (well, if you count the Cocaine Bear OST), the endlessly influential new wave act gave us a full 50 years of cutting-edge entertainment, kitschy humor, and biting social commentary.
As another farewell gift of sorts, the band has announced a career-spanning retrospective box set today called 50 Years of De-Evolution (1973-2023), which will take on various forms—most enticingly a four-LP vinyl collection that includes a 28-page book, a foldable paper hat (you can probably guess which one), and, interestingly, an air freshener. “This box set represents a great cross section of early experiments and later creations,” Mothersbaugh shared in a statement regarding the collection of hits and rarities. “I was looking to create a new sound, a concept in art and music that represented a new way of thinking about life on planet earth. With Devo, I think we did just that.”
Find more info below, and pre-order the collection via Rhino here.
