A Perfect Circle pictures from Rolling Stone

Devo Confirm First New Album In 19 Years, Announce “De-evolution Has Arrived”

New-wave art-punks Devo are announcing plans to release a new album this fall, the band’s first in 19 years. The “Whip It” quintet are in the studio now, putting the finishing touches on the still-untitled new LP. “De-evolution has finally arrived… and who better to guide us through the mess than Devo,” the band says in a statement. “It’s pretty much fact — we now live in a devolved world that’s getting wackier each and every day.” The band’s last album was 1990’s Smooth Noodle Maps. The group is still anchored by co-founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, with Bob 1 and Bob 2 — or Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale — backing up their older brothers. Former Nine Inch Nails/A Perfect Circle/Gn’R drummer Josh Freese fills out the quintet. Devo briefly returned with new music in 2007, as their awesome Teddybears-produced “Watch Us Work It” was released as a single and featured prominently in a Dell computer commercial. In July 2007, Casale told Rolling Stone the Dell song could lead to a new album: “Mark is less resistant to it than he has been in years. He did sit down and cooperate on a few songs, so odds are better than ever.” 2009 promises to be packed with Devo activity, as the band will first perform in Dallas on March 18th, then appear at this year’s SXSW Festival, sitting in on the keynote panel on March 19th and performing live at the Austin Music Hall on March 20th. From there, the band will perform their entire Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo album May 6th in London, then play a May 8th set at All Tomorrow’s Parties. Although most recognized for their 1980 hit single “Whip It,” the band was one of the most influential and fascinating bands of the late-’70s/early-’80s with album like Q: Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice and hits “Jocko Homo,” “Girl U Want,” and covers of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Working In a Coal Mine.” In the time since Smooth Noodle Maps, Mark Mothersbaugh has carved a niche as a premiere film composer with scores for f

Published: 2009-03-10 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer: Tool Leader Speaks on Enigmatic Side Project

When you say the name of Maynard James Keenan’s new recording project, Puscifer, it is “Pus as in Puss’n'Boots,” says the Tool singer on a recent afternoon at Electric Lady Studios in New York. “Not as in a boil,” he adds with a dry chuckle. Keenan, working on the record on a rare day away from Tool’s current world tour, explains that Puscifer “is my attempt to make music to inspire people. Heavy rock is sinking, the industry is dying. This is definitely not thinking man’s music” — elliptically referring to Tool’s dense, serpentine metal — “but groove-oriented music that makes you feel good.” The music Keenan previews at Electric Lady is suitably provocative, with a good-time roll. “Queen B” features a bee’s nest of overlapping, processed vocals — including Keenan’s own deep country baritone — over noir-ish hip-hop drumming, like Keenan’s previous side outing, A Perfect Circle, in Tennessee-midnight-radio dub. “Dojo” is marching percussion and sinister electronics with what sounds like the death gulp of a Duane Eddy-treble guitar. “World Up My Ass” is Keenan’s version of the 1980 Circle Jerks song — total psychic collapse as straight-up backwoods fun. “Country Boner” is delightfully offensive and something of an antique — a cover of a song by the Illinois garage band Electric Sheep, which featured pre-Tool guitarist Adam Jones and his high school buddy, Tom Morello, later in Rage Against The Machine. Keenan describes Puscifer as “more of a collaboration” than a group. Contributors include Primus drummer Tim Alexander, guitarist-soundscaper Jonny Polonsky and, on vocals, Lisa Germano and actress Milla Jovovich. And Keenan says the music could end up as more than just an album, which he expects to issue in October. “I’d like to release it in different ways — maybe two songs at a time, every three

Published: 2007-07-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Devo Hint at New Album’s Sound, Debut Songs During SXSW Set

Photograph by Brian Birzer A much-hyped show at Austin Music Hall was the second performance from recently reinvigorated new-wavers Devo since plans to release their first studio album in 19 years. A band that built their career on questioning traditions — musical, social and otherwise — Devo refused to lure in the crowd with familiar fare, instead opening with a slew of brand new songs and lesser-known hits. The three new songs — “Don’t Shoot, I’m A Man,” “Fresh” and “What We Do” — hinted at what the new Devo album might sound like: heavy robo-guitars, very limited modern synths and pulsing beats that are more machine-man than man-machine; especially since drummer Josh Freese gives everything the unique heft he lends to bands like A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails. (For more photos of Devo and other SXSW performers, check out our gallery.) Devo’s stiff movements and matching jumpsuits have always scoffed the idea of “stage presence,” but the visuals for this show mocked it. Using tiny cameras posted everywhere and a giant LCD display the size of a movie screen, Devo rebroadcasted themselves 30 feet high in the most unflattering angles possible. Microphone cameras shot directly up their noses, cameras pointing upwards from the floor made them look chubby and distorted. Thought as one concession to stardom, the band still performed their crossover smash, “Whip It” #8212; albeit buried in the middle of the set. The presence of “Whip It” inspired Mark Mothersbaugh to toss of a few of their trademark red “energy dome” hats into to the crowd — each of which, through some feat of physics involved in their ziggurat shape, flew incredibly far. Set List: “Don’t Shoot, I’m A Man” (new song) “Peek-A-Boo” “What We Do” (new song) “Going Under” “Fresh” (new song) “That’s Good” “Girl U Want” “Whip It” “Secret Agent Man” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” “Uncontrollable Urge” “Mongoloid” “Smart Patrol”/”Mr. DNA” “Gates Of Steel” Encore: “Devo Corporate Anthem” “Freedom Of Choice”

Published: 2009-03-21 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, SXSW