Oh, No! It's Devo features an even greater reliance on programmed synthesizers and drum machines than its predecessor, New Traditionalists (1981). DJ Pangburn of Reverb.com noted that these elements, "combined with the minimal use of guitars, gives the record a metronomic, roboticized feel."[2]
According to a 1982 interview with lead vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh, the album was titled Oh, No! It's Devo because "there are many people out there who, when they hear we're around again or have one more album coming out, that is their reaction."[3] In later interviews, Devo's co-founder and bass guitarist Gerald Casale stated that the album was born out of critical reviews in which the band were alternately described as both "fascists" and "clowns".[4] In response, the band decided to make an album that would answer the question, "what would a record sound like by fascist clowns?"[5]
Composition
"Peek-a-Boo!", based on a "scary" sequencer line from Mark Mothersbaugh, featured lyrics inspired by Casale's former college philosophy professor, who had taught about Carl Jung's theories on the duality of human nature.[6] "Big Mess" was inspired by letters sent to a game show host by someone using the name "Cowboy Kim".[7] "I Desire" brought the band controversy, as the lyrics were taken directly from a poem written by John Hinckley Jr., who had attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster.[8] The band had first read the poem in the National Enquirer and thought it was "pretty great", despite the source.[9] Casale later said that Hinckley was "quite proud" of the song, but "completely didn't understand that what we did was invert it. We knew how nuts he was, of course, and the third verse I added clearly turns the mirror on the psycho."[9] While Foster gave the band her blessing to use the lyrics, the FBI issued them several warnings.[9]
Promotion
Devo supported the album with a North American tour.[10]
The band also produced three music videos for the album: "Time Out for Fun," "Peek-a-Boo!" and "That's Good". All three videos eschewed Devo's previous narrative style for a basic performance against a bluescreen background displaying related visuals to the song. These were intended to replicate the band's intentions for the forthcoming tour for those who would be unable to attend. The video for "That's Good" ran into censorship troubles on MTV, as the juxtaposition of a cartoon french fry penetrating the hole of a doughnut and quickly cutting to a writhing, smiling nude woman, shot from the neck up, was considered too risqué for airplay. Band member and video director Gerald Casale later elaborated in an interview for the 33⅓ series book Devo's Freedom of Choice in 2015:
"We got this call from [MTV co-founder] Les Garland, He was like, 'Look, we know what you're trying to do here.' I go, What do you mean? He goes, 'Ya know, when that cartoon French fry glides through that cartoon donut and then it's with the girl looking happy. You can have the French fry, or you can have the donut, but you can't have the French fry and the donut, Otherwise, you can't cut to the girl.' And I go, 'But what about when the French fry hits the donut and breaks in half and she's sad?' And he goes 'Alright you little smart ass.' It was horrible. Then I go, 'What about that Billy Idol video you have and the girls are in skin-tight pants and their asses are full on in the screen and his head is between her legs and then somebody slaps her ass? What about that?' He goes, 'we're talking about you, we're not talking about them."
Casale eventually relented and made significant cuts to the video, which he came to regret, as "the song was going down in the charts, not up."
Devo took on another new look for this album, wearing black T-shirts and slacks with white "Spud Ring" collars. In concert, these were augmented with Freedom of Choice (1980) era energy domes and New Traditionalists era shirts and ascots for part of the performance. The LP jacket had a cutout stand on the back so it could be stood up like a picture frame.
Debby Miller of Rolling Stone observed that "Devo again proves to be at their best with a singular brand of dance song—sort of a Chubby Checker-in-space idea, with loony instructions set to a mechanized stomp." However, she cited "Peek-a-Boo!" and "That's Good" as the album's sole highlights, adding, "it's getting harder to take the whole Devo package—the dumbbell retrograde-evolution philosophy and all the promotional merchandise.[13]Trouser Press felt the album was "pointlessly produced by Roy Thomas Baker" and "failed to slow the creative slide."[15]The Globe and Mail determined that the band and Baker captured "a full and satisfying sound without losing the spastic mechanical repetitiveness for which Devo is known."[16]
In retrospective reviews, Steve Huey of AllMusic praised the album's "quality singles" but felt that Baker's production "smooths out any remaining edges in the band's sound", noting its "colder-sounding digital synths" and "thudding electronic percussion, which contributes heavily to the album's overall feeling of bloodlessness".[11] The Spin Alternative Record Guide deemed "That's Good" and "Big Mess" "Devo at its most pointed and charming."[14]
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