Taking Sides: Kraftwerk v. Devo

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Düsseldorf v. Akron. Menschmaschine v. Mongoloids. Matching red shirts v. matching red flower-pot hats. Baader-Meinhof v. Kent State. I Am a Robot v. You Are a Spud.

Which of these early, robotnik computer-popmeisters do you prefer?

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Devo, for updating that N'awlins groove. (Don't believe me? Where d'ya think 'Working in a Coal Mine' came from?) For being the missing link between the Ventures and Slipknot. For being known as an electro- synth-whatevah noowave unit but still having an incredibly great drummer. For "Uncontrollable Urge", "Gut Feeling", "Smart Patrol", "Snowball", "Girl U Want", "Through Being Cool", "Beautiful World", "Speed Racer", "Peek-a-Boo", "Be Stiff", "Turnaround", and every cover version they ever did. For being a noisier, trashier, funnier and more American version of Roxy Music.

Kraftwerk = hippies. I can see them driving their VW van through Morocco, everything. Their beautiful tunes ("Radioactivity") were beautiful but they didn't have any kick-ass tunes and are thus responsible for trance music and all those besieged chrome-domes screaming about how there's still NOIZE assaulting their poor calibrated eardrums, get rid of it now, it's all the fault of the rockist conspiracy etc etc etc. Actually, fuck Kraftwerk and everybody who followed them. (I still like "Radioactivity" though, but I think somebody should do a really shitty version of it)

― dave q, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Plus, Kraftwerk are cyclists, minus 10,000 points right there

― dave q, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Devo all the way--they have, like, eight times as many good songs. (Let me just stick my hand up for "Freedom of Choice" and "Race of Doom.") Also, they were happy to deal with broken technology/have fun with whatever was on hand, as opposed to Kraftwerk's "we cannot make another album until we have built an ALL-NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART STUDIO BY HAND-- oh, curses, the technology's gotten ahead of us again! START OVER!" deal.

― Douglas, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

both sci-fi bands.

"are we not men? we are devo" vs "we are the robots".

back-to-snails de-evolution vs. post-human machine-love.

Both took a stance as alienated from the current state of human life, positing the present as a transitory phase through which we would emerge as a new species. Both portrayed as detatched from an emotional response to dehumanization - maybe even celebratory about the decline and fall of an outdated belief system.

― fritz, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

and that's good.

durr-derr-durrdurrdurr

― david, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i love devo and all but you people are insane, this is kraftwerk we're talking about!

― ethan, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think Devo are one of the greatest rock bands of all-time. Whenever I'm asked who my favorite bands are Devo are always among the very first that come to mind. I never get tired of them. Stinging pop proficiency, dark sense of humor, great vocalists. They didn't sustain the greatness, but that doesn't diminish the timelessness of their best work.

Kraftwerk are certainly great as well, but I think Devo is the taller giant.

― Oliver Kneale, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kraftwerk, on top baby! Both bands were very influential with their "not human" schtick, and both produced a lot of great material. But let's be frank here: Devo soldiered on long past the point of embarassment, with albums that I doubt most of you own, let alone even remember the names. Smooth Noodle Maps? Shout? Total Devo? I mean, really. Plus, Devo released a really awful video game. About the worst I could give Kraftwerk would be: early albums may be considered awful (I disagree), or that remix album in the 90s was an abomination (it wasn't that bad). Kraftwerk's ongoing periods of extended silence when they have nothing to say are much preferable to the last half of Devo's career. Thank goodness Mark is now doing soundtracks, because that's heading in the right direction again.

― Sean Carruthers, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

(Don't get me wrong, though, the first few Devo albums are absolutely untouchable.)

― Sean Carruthers, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

for some reason I like Shout...It's certainly nothing compared to their best work but I don't hate it. Maybe I just like the artwork or something. Anyway, Kraftwerk get the nod, certainly they were more consistently good and made more good pop songs. Devo were more of a rock band though. An interesting pair.

― g, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Jesus fucking Christ, I guess the backlash has started already... how fucking depressing. Come on, like Ethan said, Devo are really great, but they cannot hold a candle to Kraftwerk. Devo's schtickiness overwhelms their (admittedly, often great) music sometimes I'm afraid. Which I guess you could say about Kraftwerk (just to pre- empt the inevitable), but with Devo it all seems like "Look how SPASTIC we are and look how FUNNY and BITING our cover versions are etc etc," even when the music is dead-on and frenzied. Sure Kraftwerk may have indirectly influenced trance but Devo are indirectly responsible for indie kids wearing Molly Hatchet t-shirts, and I know which one I'd rather obliterate.

― Clarke B., Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Devo are indirectly responsible for indie kids wearing Molly Hatchet t-shirts

huh?

by "indirectly" do you mean "in no way whatsoever"?

― fritz, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

and, as it seems you admit in your post, invoking "schtick" to downplay Devo's output while simultaneously big upping Kraftwerk is crazy talk.

that said, I'm on the fence on this one. I've probably listened to a lot more Devo but I think I've had more of my preconceptions about music loosened by Kraftwerk, having discovered them much later in life.

― fritz, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kraftwerk are often beautiful and moving, and Devo are never either. I've never been stunned by Devo in any way.

Kraftwerk are emotionally complex, whereas Devo are not--they're just an exercise.

― Clarke B., Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Clarke's statements about Devo are horrible, horrible. Nothing "emotional" about Devo? The pop beauty of the chorus to "The Day My Baby Brought Me a Surprise?" The stark funk robotism of "Whip It?" The bare compu-coldness of "Mechanical Man?" The dork-sexiness of "Pink Pussy Cat?"

Are you OUT OF YOUR SENSES?

― Gage-o, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Both are great. Don't make me choose. Yay!

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I love the Kraftwerk schtick. Not so crazy about the Devo schtick. That Spudboy stuff wasn't all that funny to me, even as a teenager. And half the time I really can't stand Mothersbaugh's voice. Great songs, though. But really, Kraftwerk can't be beat. I like the fact that they're uptight perfectionists.

― Arthur, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh none of it's as good as Gary Numan is it?:)

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I know *exactly* what I'm doing, Tracer. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm trying to imagine what Rugrats would sound if Kraftwerk did the soundtrack. Pained regret for youth passing away rather than Mothersbaugh's woozy, baby steps probably.

― Billy Dods, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So do people actually listen to Kraftwerk these days? They seem like a historical-interest band to me now. I think they were brilliant, way ahead of their time etc, and I have all their albums, but I never play any of them.

Why then do I not wish to reexperience the genius of Kraftwerk on a regular basis (the way, say, I still break out Derrick May and Juan Atkins)? I think this could be because rhythmically, they're not very interesting, and because the man-machine schtick gets a bit tiresome--it's a bit po-faced (would rather hear helium vocals than monotone robots now)

― Ben Williams, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

am i the only one to not "get" devo? i mean, i get the schtick but not the appeal. that said, my film teacher made us watch some ridiculous art movie soundtracked by "mongoloid" that was pretty groovy. kraftwerk are the greatest band of the 70s, bar none.

that said, i'm sympathetic to dave q's points.

― jess, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

snap jess! i haf a four-song devo single w.everything i like about em on it (jocko homo, jonee, coalmine, and a fourth I don't really like!!)

(obv i like dave q's points i think AM dave q *sigh*)

― mark s, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Gage, I said there's nothing "emotionally complex" about Devo, not that they aren't emotional. In the words of Common (back when he was Common Sense), "don't take my words outta 'text."

― Clarke B., Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Devo seems too much like They Might Be Giants for me to like, rilly like them. But that's exactly the kind of thing a guy who's only listened to one Devo record all the way through might be expected to say.

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Just a note that this thread caused me to go out and get the twofer CD with Devo's albums Duty Now For the Future and New Traditionalists. Yay!

― Sean Carruthers, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kraftwerk.

The wrote Computerworld, beat that!

People can guess when Devo records were made, you play Computerworld for the average person and they guess somewhere in the mid 90's.

― mt, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I never realised the two were in competition with each other. Come to think of it, I can't really see what they have in common. I'm not being Mr Grumpy, btw, honestly ;-)

― Jez, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i tell you wot they got in common theyre both shit. old shit pepul like mig ure lisen to when not on never mind buzzcocks to pay amex bill. old seventy shit is there fault we end up wif shit lik orbit underworld chemicals.

― XStatic Peace, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Devo had a almost-reunion album about one year ago. It was everybody but the drummer and they said the had a devolution until the early 60 and become a surf band with no vocals I had a mp3 on the other computer and it was ok. Cant remember the name, it started with a O

― Chupa-Cabras, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think you're thinking of the Wipeouters. They had one album called P Twaaaaaaang released last year. I remember seeing it at the Sam's but with my memories of more recent Devo stuff, it scared me. I think they may still have it at Sam's for 50% off! I might give it a try now.

― Sean Carruthers, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Those aren't "flower-pot hats," they're energy domes! Show some respect!

― Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The first Devo album is really, really great. When they went synth- pop they managed to do some fun stuff but turned to crap. Kraftwerk are towering giants for a reason. I do fear the backlash, but I won't joint the discussion. And I still play their records. I have an interesting story about my first exposure to them; remind me to tell you some time.

― Sean, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

six months pass...

Tell us, Sean!

― Clarke B., Saturday, 3 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Has this been eating away at you for months, Clarke? ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 3 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The time is finally right.

― Sean Carruthers, Saturday, 3 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes, Ned - my family and friends are really worried about me. Still, I sharply remember my first exposure to Kraftwerk, too - it was when I was 19, I think, and I had NO IDEA what to make of it. Little did I know I would become so in love, but hey - not everything smacks you over the head the first time.

― Clarke B., Saturday, 3 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I never tire of telling my first Kraftwerk story. I lived in a town of about 40,000, right near the edge of my city near an industrial park. Our neighborhood was reasonably new but not necessarily affluent, so it wasn't necessarily weird to see some guy sitting under a car that had been jacked up. So, anyhow, we were walking around the neighborhood one day and walked down this back lane to the house literally at the edge of the city, and in the driveway this guy named Kenny W had his Pinto jacked up to work on it. Kenny was the older brother of a schoolmate, and I really didn't have a lot to do with him typically, but when we walked past his car I was transfixed: booming out of the stereo system in the car was "The Robots", which sounded like nothing I'd ever head before. (I think this must have been right around the time it came out, too.) It was on EIGHT TRACK, no less. I hung around listening to this amazing album cranking out of his Pinto speakers, breaks in the middle of songs from where the eight track had to switch over to the next band, until he agreed to lend me the eight track long enough to record it. Shortly after that I ran out and picked up Exceller 8...also on eight track...and I thought it was the most fucked-up thing I'd ever heard in my life. And I loved it!

― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(Those who don't know me well enough to do the math: I was probably between 10 and 12 when I heard it for the first time, and I tried to convince my friends that Kraftwerk was the best thing ever...of course I got nowhere with that mission.)

― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ten months pass...

seansf never told us his interesting story about his first encounter w/ kraftwerk. just like on another thread, he never divulged his considered opinion about gary numan.

methinks i detect a trend here ;-)

― Tad (llamasfur), Wednesday, 18 June 2003 07:26 (twenty-two years ago)

NOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo don't make me choose..

i heard autobahn as a six year old, or was i seven? anyway, i loved it immediately - it being the only record to cause the speakers on my sisters music centre (remember them?) fall off the wall.

i first came across devo when i was around 13. mentalists and jolly good. but they are in 2 different leagues entirely.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 18 June 2003 16:30 (twenty-two years ago)

BOTH. I couldn't live without them!

― Francis Watlington, Wednesday, 18 June 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Gimme Devo

― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 18 June 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Yellow Magic Orchestra wins obv

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 18 June 2003 23:25 (twenty-two years ago)

My God, only an American could place Devo in the same league as Kraftwerk.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 18 June 2003 23:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I meant either. Gosh, I sound like a dork. Hell, the fact that I'm correcting something I wrote hours ago should be of concern by itself. &%*&()&($@ Get me away from this computer!

― Fran Watling, Thursday, 19 June 2003 00:29 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

devo = kraftwerk or tubeway army, as conceived by Frank Zappa.

discuss!

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 24 August 2003 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Zappa was really into Devo wasn't he? In that passive-aggressive way of his, of course. In every interview he ridicules drum machines and 'aerosol music' etc., but there's that bit in the 'Real FZ Book' where he mentions that stage direction 'Play Devo!' (as in 'stiff, robotic'), ostensibly as a 'joke' but he seems more than a bit fascinated with them, like the 'opposite' approach from hin that he finds so alien that he MUST figure out WHY!!!? (or more likely for him, 'HOW!!!?) "I'm So Cute" is a better Devo cop than "Stick it Out" btw

― dave q, Monday, 25 August 2003 08:46 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

I love both, but I could never imagine choosing Devo
over Kraftwerk, either by the overall quality of their
catalogue or by their influence. C'mon.

― berzerker!, Monday, 7 February 2005 05:09 (twenty-one years ago)

My first answer above still applies but these days I find myself listening to Devo a touch more. Suits the times. Also, "Girl U Want" was playing today in the restaurant during brunch.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 February 2005 05:16 (twenty-one years ago)

devo = kraftwerk or tubeway army, as conceived by Frank Zappa.
More like They Might Be Giants v0.05pre-alpha before the accordian(), jazz_influence() modules were compiled or the dialasong function was working.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Monday, 7 February 2005 05:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Bruce Haack

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Monday, 7 February 2005 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Kraftwerk, plz. Pleeeeeeeeeeeez

― Nic de Teardrop (Nicholas), Monday, 7 February 2005 07:24 (twenty-one years ago)

ha ned, lately i lean more kraftwerk! we are like constantly flying planes on opposite sides of the globe you and i.

custos per usual not knowing what he's talking about.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 7 February 2005 08:02 (twenty-one years ago)

ten years pass...

Having grown up in the industrial Midwest, they both matter to me. I thought of this comparison today as I was listening to the complete works of Devo. However, being a disaffected Midwesterner, I identified strongly with Devo in high school. To me they were the antidote to Reagan and the stupid McCarthyism that came with it. I liked how they didn't prostitute teenage emotions (Kraftwerk didn't either). But Devo were political to me so I go with them. They were exactly what every stupid high school teacher or other authority didn't like about new wave music.

I see this less as a "taking sides" as a "screw everyone else".

― NO CLOO (I M Losted), Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:30 (ten years ago)

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