I think a good idea for DEVO would be to bring together some of the wackier music influences since the 1970s, and introduce them all to a new audience as well as courting old fans.
Groups like Negativland, Reverend Horton Heat, Mindless Self Indulgence, Rasputina, and the Butthole Surfers. I’m sure there are any number of other groups that would fit right in to a “Weirdopalooza”.
DEVO started as a movie production group. They wanted to enter some short films into the Ann Arbor film festival. They needed a soundtrack and decided to record it themselves.
They made promotional clips (now called videos although they used film) and often had some other action leading into the footage as a setup.
Then as home video came along, they also worked up some other longer form video links between the clips.
Maybe they should (re)introduce themselves with a new DVD “package” or series of youtube clips.
And I’ve seen Negativeland live once. They can go on and on for 3 hours or more. Some of the material more interesting than other.
I’d rather see them return to social commentary on “de-evolution” (or subgenius logic) than just a bunch of dance tunes or non-stop praise of our current president.
What will they do to be “relevant”? I’m there for the music, but want more than just nostalgia out of a band like this.