Album of the Day

Devo tapped Ken Scott to produce DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE; while the ZIGGY STARDUST helmer may be better known for guitar-driven music, this Warner Bros. collection went a long way toward establishing the synthesizer as New Wave's dominant instrument. If the UPC-festooned cover of their second album hints that the spudboys would gladly bite the hand that feeds it to skewer corporate fascism, the music confirms it. “The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize” and a terrific reinvention of the Johnny Rivers classic “Secret Agent Man” were the singles, but the quintet hit bullseye after satirical bullseye here - the de-evolutionary anthems of 1979’s DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE ring true in the present as well.