The year was 1966, earthlings had landed on the moon, the cold war was in full swing and atomic radiation from Nevada testing sites had floated eastward, coating the Midwest, especially the Great Lakes Region, with a clear fine dust.
Such was the fertile breeding grounds from which the Wipe-outers! first emerged. These primordial beginnings included Mark, Bob#1, Bob #2 and Josh#2, the visionary artists many musical anthropologists credit inventing the
North Coast surf sound.
They played together in basements and garages, concocting and honing the sound that influenced many of the better known names of the surf music world that soon followed. There are those (not many to be sure) who feel the more adventurous elements of the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Dick Dale, the Trashmen, the Ventures, the Bum-outers, and many others owe more than a tip of the tribal surf board to the Wipe-outers! and their early oceanic party-down sound. Of course, a band as dynamic as the Wipe-outers! was destined to become victims of their own visionary talents. A volatile group, they disbanded for good in 1964, full two years before they even started!
Many feel this pre-mature parting of the ways played a large part in explaining why few people outside of the bars and pubs lining Lake Erie's southern coast can lay claim to having seen the band perform live.
Further complicating things, the players spun off into other directions, including (as in the case of Josh #2) the logistics of being born. The guitarists, Bob #1 and #2 could be seen occasionally re-appearing in lesser bands such as DEVO, while Josh #2 was serving state in the Michigan Militia and Mark got job packing fudge in Akron, Ohio. Time passed, gravity took its toll and not much was heard about the Wipe-outers! except for the occasional query in the entertainment world such as, "Who really invented surf music?" and "If the world were a perfect place, who would deserve to receive a patent for that invention?"
Recently, a strange quirk of fate, the kind you only hear about in fairy-tales and completely fabricated bios, brought the four men (because by this time, calling them "boys" would be quite a stretch) together again. They all found themselves working in the same building in West Hollywood, California, literally thousands of miles from where they had started! Well, as fate would have it, they re-united and began rehearsing the music that had once been the seed from which all surf music had sprung, and were persuaded by west coast music promoters to commit this music, which had, up to now, evaded both vinyl, 8-track and audio-cassette, to the up-to-date and thoroughly medium of plastic, ala compact discs.
What you hear on this disc, is the bog, sweat and wrinkles of these guys and a select few of their talented friends and family, a tribute to a darker time, when surfers, for the first time, no longer had to shoot the curls without the benefit of their own sound.
Dedicated to the first caveman, who while the dinosaurs stood on shore blinking, ever paddled an ironing board out into the crashing surf and stood upright for the first ride to shore.
ARTICLES & REVIEWS
MORE REVIEWS AND PRESS RELEASES:
FREQ MAGAZINE
Review by Deuteronemu 90210
Who be The Wipeouters? Well, it's Devo, pretty much, only they've come down from space and started hanging out on the beach. But there's still rockets and stuff. Yeah. Imagine a Charles Burns comic (y'know, like Black Hole or something) only it's all about surfing. And drugs. Then someone makes it into a cartoon. This would be the soundtrack. Or that Stephen King story, "Night Surf", the one that takes place at the same time as The Stand, where everyone's died of the 'flu 'n' stuff, and there's a bunch of reprobates getting pissed and hanging out on the beach. Give 'em a beat-up old ghettoblaster, and this CD. They'd love it. Only it's not as sinister as that makes it sound. Just pretty fucked up.
More Pixies than Beach Boys, more missing link than Link Wray, with space noises. And the Rocket Power theme tune ('cos what with Dweezil Zappa doing the music for Duckman, and Devo doing the music for the wonderful Powerpuff Girls, old alternative Rockers all seem to have gravitated towards scoring animation. As in "hey, I scored some fucking wixked animation the other day. Wanna hit?").
Beneath the pavement, the beach. Only it's covered in toxic sludge (but not the sort that gives you unpleasant diseases, the sort that glows pretty colours and gives you weird fucking superpowers) and the surfers are all on LSD. Like that Tank Girl comic where she and Booga go to the beach and she drops acid, only to discover that the ghost of Jimi Hendrix she comunes with is actually Feargal Sharkey in disguise. So she twats him. But that's beside the point. What can I say? It's Devo doing surf music. And that's what it sounds like.
Awesome. Hang ten, and shoot the other four.
MAGNET MAGAZINE
"Before and After Science - Devo Resurrects Its Surf-Rock Beginnigs"
Written by A.D. Amorosi
Whether Mark Mothersbaugh, formerly of Devo and now a soundtrack composer (Rugrats, Rushmore), talks about earthly de-evolution or atonal space sounds, his roots may be ocean bound. In 1966, future Devo members Bob Casale and brothers Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh made surf music as the Wipeouters. The band's twangy pop predated Devo, a Dick Dale sound whose geekishness wasn't in tune with Akron, Ohio. "We were nerdy troublestarters," says Mothersbaugh about the previously undocumented band. "We really shot our mouths off ...in a place like Ohio, our peer group was one that wanted to learn us a thing or two."
Now, the Wipeouters have gathered their resources and recorded P'Twaaang!! (Casual Tonalities), 13 surf originals that seem yet another practical joke. "We're just stumbling through -- there's no marketing plan," says Mothersbaugh on the logic of three-quarters of Devo (Jerry Casale does make a guest appearance, as does his dad, Robert Casale Sr.) playing surf rock. "We did it in our spare time."
Mothersbaugh says P'Twaaaang!!'s appeal lies in proving to Californians the North Coast (i.e. Lake Erie) method of surfing. "On the West Coast," he says, "they use boards to ride on. They cheat. In Ohio, we would get older jocks really pissed at us. They'd stuff us in the trunks of their cars, drive up to Lake Erie. They'd be really drunk by the time we got there. They'd pull us out and skip us across the length of the lake. The spin is scary at first, but once you figure out how to steer, it's kind of fun."
ALTERNATIVE PRESS MAGAZINE
Wipeouters review
Written by John Pecorelli
Devo members turn surf-rock conventions over, under, sideways, down.
Devo bros Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh raid again, this time in the fictional surf band of their youths, the Wipeouters. A stale rehash of the Ventures this is not; it's a very fresh rehash of the Ventures, updated with modern beats, modern musical instruments and a very strange sense of humor. To be expected, of course - these are the genii behind "Mongoloid" and "Be Stiff," after all. Absurdist humor reigns supreme in the combination of sinister spy-theme guitar and tranqued-out synth work of "Dangerdog," in the Afro/Martian-percussion-meets-atonal-lounge-lizard vibe of "Surf's Up On Goon Island" and in the electronic faux-Sufi/hip-hop grooves of "Wounded Surfer." The twisting of genre cliches is relentless, and it helps make P'Twaaaang!!! a remarkably odd and remarkably fun album.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wipeouters review
Written by J.W. Lim
You say you want a Devolution?
"P'Twaaang!!!" is the sound of former Devo members reconstituted as the fictional surf-rock band The Wipeouters, who seem to be the missing link between The Ventures and The B-52's. Dig the nod to the Yardbirds' "Train Kept A Rolling" on "Dangerdog", and the tip of the hats to T-Rex's "Jeepster" on "Surf's Up On Goon Island". Sci-fi keyboards rule "Bikini Beach", and the "Ravin' Surf" techno hit starts with a riff reference to Devo's own "Mongoloid". Devo mainman Mark Mothersbaugh (who is responsible for the theme to "Pee Wee's Playhouse") reprises his vocals on "Twist 'n' Launch". The Wipeouters give Spinal Tap a run for their money in the category of make-believe, self-parodying bands, claiming credit for inventing the North Coast surf sound. It's just plain fun.
ROCKPILE MAGAZINE
Wipeouters review
Written by Andre Calilhanna
Apparently the members of Devo aren't busy enough penning and producing music for movies and interactive games, so they've put together a new band to occupy themselves. The Wipeouters is the latest venture in the Mothersbaugh and Co. library, and, as expected, it comes totally from left field. Featuring instrumental surf tunes, Mothersbaugh proves his producing and arranging genius through the 13 tracks on P'Twaaang!!! Including everything you would expect on a surf guitar record. The Wipeouters take it to the extreme, incorporating loops, wind instruments, funky synths, ukeleles, and the occasional vocal just to spice up the mix. It's an excellent compilation of sounds with sterling performances, and deserving of a strong nomination for this summer's official party album. Carefully produced, P'Twaaang!!! never fails to satisfy, as Mothersbaugh's ability to find the perfect complement to each composition keeps the album skipping from track to track. It's a dynamic and sophistocated venture into surf rock as only the brilliant mind of Mothersbaugh could provide.
LAUNCH.COM WEB SITE
Devo Prequel The Wipeouters Surfs Into Stores Today
Written by Neil Weiss
(4/24/01, 3 p.m. ET) -- The Wipeouters, the 1960s Ohio group whose members went on to form Devo, arrive in record stores today (April 24) with their debut album, P'Twaaang!!!, from the Casual Tonalities label.
The group, which never recorded nor played a live show beyond its own garage, reconvened recently at the studio of main Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh to roll tape on their quirky take on surf music, which he refers to as the "north coast" sound.
Mothersbaugh tells LAUNCH that the group was better than the Beach Boys and that their impact is massive, whether anyone realizes it or not. "The North Coast would be like the engine that drove it all but (was) just kind of unknown, you know. We'll always go down in history maligned and ignored but...kinda like potatoes, you know. It's like people eat 'em every day, you know, they're a staple of your diet but, you know, nobody ever thinks about, like, 'I'm gonna go have a French fry, I'm gonna have potatoes today.' They just eat them anyhow and, you know, they just don't really think about it that you're probably 60 percent potato, you know?"
The Wipeouters also features original Devo members guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh and guitarist Bob Casale, joined by drummer Josh Mancell. Devo bassist Jerry Casale also adds vocals to one track.
LAUNCH.COM WEB SITE
Devo Creates The Wipeouters
Written by Darren Davis
3/8/01, 12 p.m. ET) - Mark Mothersbaugh has reunited with the members of Devo to create the Wipeouters, a fictional band in the spirit of Spinal Tap, which supposedly went on to form Devo. The Wipeouters' album P'Twaang! is slated to hit stores April 24. The band's album is filled with songs such as "Wedgie Wipeout," "Nubie Boardsmen," "Ravin' Surf," "Shut Up Little Man," and the title track.
The Wipeouters claim to be founders of "north coast" surf music. The album may have a video component, but nothing has been confirmed. P'Twaang! was recorded at Mark Mothersbaugh's Mutado Musica studio in West Hollywood, California.
Original drummer Jim Mothersbaugh is replaced by Josh Mancell, but the rest of the Devo lineup is intact for the Wipeouters.
JAM! SHOWBIZ WEB SITE
Devo reunites -- as surf band
Written by JAM! Music
Who knew that the process of devolution would transform the members of '80s new wave pioneers Devo not into cavemen, but into a surf band?
Three members of Devo have reunited as The Wipeouters and will release their debut album, "P'Twaang," on April 24, Billboard reports.
A band representative described The Wipeouters to Billboard as "Devo goes to the beach". Based on the album's track listing, it should be filled with the band's typically skewed sense of humour: "Wedgie Wipeout," "Nubie Boardsmen, "Ravin' Surf," "Shut Up Little Man," and "Luna Goona Park."
The group's marketing approach is to talk about The Wipeouters as if they were an authentic surf group formed by Devo vets Mark and Robert Mothersbaugh and Robert Casale, during their childhood in Akron, Ohio.
"P'Twaang" is even being promoted as a reunion album of the original lineup, Billboard said. Fellow Devo vets Jim Mothersbaugh (drums) and Gerry Casale (bass) also appear on the album, as does Devo associate Josh Mancell.
Billboard said the group plans to play a few live shows but won't tour with the project.
FREQ Music E-Zine
Review by Richard Fontenoy
Who be The Wipeouters? Well, it's Devo, pretty much, only they've come down from space and started hanging out on the beach. But there's still rockets and stuff. Yeah. Imagine a Charles Burns comic (y'know, like Black Hole or something) only it's all about surfing. And drugs. Then someone makes it into a cartoon. This would be a soundtrack. Or that Stephen King story, "Night Surf", the one that takes place at the same time as The Stand, where everyone's died of the flu 'n' stuff, and there's a bunch of reprobates getting pissed and hanging out on the beach. Give 'em a beat-up old ghettoblaster and this CD. They'd love it. Only it's not as sinister as that makes it sound. Just pretty f--ed up.
More Pixies than Beach Boys, more missing link than Link Wray, with space noises. And the Rocket Power theme tune ('cos what with Dweezil Zappa doing the music for Duckman, and Devo doing the music for the wonderful Powerpuff Girls, old alternative rockers all seem to have gravitated toward scoring animation. As in "hey, I scored some f--ing wicked animation the other day. Wanna hit?")
Beneath the pavement, the beach. Only it's covered in toxic sludge (but not the sort that gives you unpleasant diseases, the sort that glows pretty colours and gives you weird f--ing superpowers) and the surfers are all on LSD. Like that Tank Girl comic where she and Booga go to the beach and she drops acid, only to discover that the ghost of Jimi Hendrix she communes with is actually Feargal Sharkey in disguise. So she twats him. But that's beside the point. What can I say? It's Devo doing surf music. And that's what it sounds like. Awesome. Hang ten, and shoot the other four.
ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER
Wipeouters review
Written by Steve Forstneger
Devo is/are back. Sort of. In the long-running mockery of themselves and rock culture, three-quarters of the band has reformed as The Wipeouters, and will be marketed as the band that eventually became Devo. Brothers Mark and Robert Mothersbaugh and Robert Casale will dish out surf rock on the bands album "P'Twaaang!!!", available in late April. Those who still follow Devo remember that in '99 the group masqueraded as lounge singers during bingo games for a benefit in Southern California.
SONIC NET REVIEW
By Paul Gaita
5/2/01
After almost a decade of composing music for film and television (including the "Rugrats" series and films, and 1998's "Rushmore"), Devo's Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Robert Casale have taken the musician's equivalent of a corporate retreat under the guise of a surf band called the Wipeouters. With tongues pressed firmly in cheeks, the 13 tracks on P'Twaaang!!! purport to be newly recorded versions of Ventures-style surf music the group first recorded in 1966 before forming such "lesser bands" as Devo. While the end result brims with Devo's trademark garage-punk guitar twang and oddball electronica, it's also far from a novelty record.
In truth, P'Twaaang!!! accomplishes what so many forward-thinking neo-surf bands have tried for over the years: keeping the genre fresh by placing it in a contemporary context. That's not to say that it's a serious recording akin to, say, the Mermen's jazz-tinged efforts. The brothers Mothersbaugh and Casale (even fourth Devo-tee Gerald Casale shows up here) are clearly having a blast playing a pretend-surf band, which is reflected in the frisky guitar gallop and "Out of Limits" keyboards on songs like the title track and "Nubbie Boardsmen." There's even a jerking-back-and-forth nod to the Devo days on "Twist 'n' Launch" although it's more in tune with 1990's SmoothNoodleMaps than the band's earlier work. The trad sound is quickly jettisoned, though, for more sonically adventurous material, and that's where P'Twaaang!!! blossoms into a sort of funhouse Pet Sounds.
Mark M.'s kaleidoscopic keyboards bring a touch of exotica to "Surf's Up on Goon Island," and sitars take over for Fenders on "Wedgie Wipeout." The set reaches its eclectic apex on "Bikini Beach" (written by drummer Josh Mancell) and the lengthy "Ravin' Surf" (RealAudio excerpt), which successfully mixes surf twang and techno beats in a way that has eluded Man or Astro-Man? on their most recent releases. Having accomplished this, the Wipeouters wrap things up in true vacationing-businessman style with a goof: "Shut Up, Little Man!," which incorporates some shrieking samples from the eponymous novelty disc of a few years back. It's a funny little raspberry to remind you that this is all supposed to be a lark. But joke or not, P'Twaaang!!! takes a marvelous new direction — for beach bums and spuds alike.
Los Angeles Times
Bonus Track
"Long Before They Cracked That Whip"
By Richard Cromelin
4/22/2001
What: "P'Twaaaang!!!" by The Wipeouters (Casual Tonalities)
The Sound: Surf has never been up quite like this. The Wipeouters spike the twang and the tom-toms with electronica, exotica and plain old weirdness; sustaining their drive and energy even as they break for a ukelele strum, a sitar solo or pictorial passages that sound like Looney Tunes meet R. Crumb cartoon scores.
The Legend: The Wipeouters were a short-lived '60s surf band in Akron, Ohio, whose members would later form punk-new wave icon Devo. The album is a current reunion of the group -- which never recorded or performed in public -- playing its old songs. Note that surfing in Ohio was different from the California model. "It was being in seventh grade and a couple of evil 10th graders throwing you in the back of their car and driving you to Lake Erie", says Mark Mothersbaugh, singer of the Wipeouters and Devo. "On the way they would get drunk, and they'd take us out and they would skip us across Lake Erie. And after that first skip off the water, your fear turned into exhilaration. They'd get seven or eight skips out of us, and you found out you could actually guide your direction so you could avoid buoys and piers and stuff. We wrote this music in response to our experience of surfing."
Just the Facts: Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh, brother Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale (plus drummer Josh Mancelli) all work together at Mark's Mutato Muzika studios in West Hollywood scoring movies, video games and TV shows, including Nickelodeon's animated "Rocket Power", whose surf theme triggered (and is included on) this "after hours" project. "P'Twaaang!!!" marks the first album project by the core of Devo (whose Jerry Casale - brother of Bob - guests on the record but isn't a full-time Wipeouter) since 1990's "SmoothNoodleMaps". But though Devo is essentially inactive these days, Mark Mothersbaugh says the group periodically "chips away" at a folder of about eight songs.
TAHOE DAILY TRIBUNE
Wipeouters review
Written by Boyde
Devo goes surf!! Members of 90's pop rock pioneers Devo brings us a fresh fusion of surf and progressive electronica. These spuds haven't put out a full length since 1986, and P'Twaaang proves the wait to be worthwhile. Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo frontman) graces us with his classic Devo style vocals on only a few tracks. The rest of the album maintains with original instrumentals that play off many classic songs and genres. This release even offers the Rocket Power theme song (a popular cartoon on Nickelodeon). So surfers, ravers, and all you individuals in between, be sure not to miss out on the twisted creativity of The Wipeouters - P'Twaaang!!!
VH1.COM / MTV.COM
Daily News article
"Devo Members Resurrect Junior High Basement Band"
By Rob Kemp
03/08/2001
Speaking from the Mutato Muzika complex on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, Mark Mothersbaugh recalled the motivations for his first band, the Wipe-Outers, surely the premier eighth-grade surf band in Akron, Ohio.
"We were influenced by some of the first surfing that was done, off the North Coast. Ohio was first settled by Canadians who came across Lake Erie and Lake Michigan," said Mothersbaugh, who is better known as the frontman of Devo. "The pioneers had to wait for them to freeze over, but it would rarely freeze all the way over. They would have their wives lay down in a very stiff, ironing board fashion, and climb on top of them and paddle across."
Mothersbaugh's own surfing experience amounts to an involuntary one. "I was small of stature and big of mouth, and I got skipped across Lake Erie by some of the bigger, more Neanderthal types. I was the wooden plank," he said.
So it was the little-known (possibly apocryphal) genesis of surfing that led the young men who would be Devo to first make music together. Around 1967, when Mothersbaugh, his brother Bob, and Bob Casale (Bob 1 and Bob 2, respectively, in Devo parlance) were in junior high in Akron, they formed the Wipe-Outers.
Now, 34 years later, the trio have recorded the songs they wrote at the time, which will be released as P'Twaang (Casual Tonalities) on April 24. The Wipe-Outers are joined on one track by Jerry Casale and 70-year-old Casale patriarch Robert. Jim Mothersbaugh, although not an official Wipe-Outer, plays drums on most of the record.
Taking a break from designing ring tones for Nokia wireless phones ("They asked me to mentally reprogram people, making them kinder, gentler, and more passive," he said), Mothersbaugh recalled the glory days of his first band.
"Jerry [Casale, Bob 2's brother and Devo's other frontman] was a little older, and was only mildly interested in surf music. He went through puberty before us," and thus was not a Wipe-Outer.
The band spent most of its time in the basement of the Casale home. "When their parents were shellacking the floor near the washer and dryer, we got promoted up to the garage for two weekends," Mothersbaugh said. "That was the biggest thrill of our career.
We opened up the garage door, and there were confused kids on banana-seat bicycles, intently trying to figure out what we were doing. It was the biggest venue we ever played."
The Wipe-Outers met their demise in 1969, when Casale and the two Mothersbaugh boys discovered "pimples, BO, and other complicated things that got in the way of practicing."
Around 1972, the three Wipe-Outers joined Jerry Casale and Jim Mothersbaugh to form Devo, which Mothersbaugh considers "probably more successful, although it was less purist" than the Wipe-Outers. "That band was very optimistic," he said, "whereas Devo was a product of the youth movement being very disillusioned."
And that, of course, was the crux of Devo, a band that for eight albums documented what it saw as the de-evolution of mankind via herky-jerky songs like "Jocko Homo," "Whip It," and "Peek-a-Boo" and the forward-looking use of synthesizers.
During the final years of Devo, Mothersbaugh began to compose music for television and films, writing the music for Pee-wee's Playhouse and the films Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Rugrats, and Sugar & Spice. Each member of Devo (barring each of the band's four drummers) works on various music composition and video projects by commission at Mutato Muzika.
But nearly two years ago, the specter of the Wipe-Outers re-emerged. "It happened in the routine of being asked to do odd things," Mothersbaugh said. "'Write a song for Powerpuff Girls,' 'Write a song for a Jackie Chan movie.' One of them was 'Write a title song for a kids' show named Rocket Power.' We looked into it, and it was about surfboarding, skateboarding, snowboarding, that sort of thing.
"A couple of synapses fired in Bob Mothersbaugh's brain, and he went, 'Remember down in the basement in the Casales' house?' And we started to think about all the songs we had written, and how much of a shame it was that we never set up on the back patio, and really play the songs the way they should have been played."
The older, wiser Wipe-Outers imposed some restrictions in order to recapture the spirit of '69. "We decided to put the same energy into it that we had in Ohio, which meant that we could only work on it during the weekends and on the nights when my brother and I could get our parents to drive us over to the Casales' house."
So, thanks to the state-of the-art Mutato Muzika, songs like "Wedgie Wipeout" and "Nubie Boardsman" have now reached the digital era without ever having been committed to analog tape at the time of their composition.
It is the recorded debut of Robert Casale Sr., however, that may be P'Taang's most notable feature. A retired tool and die man, he was visiting his sons in California last year when he revealed that he had picked up the bass guitar.
By recording with Wipe-Outers, the eldest Casale has moved from telling those kids to keep it down to playing bass on one of the very same tunes. "For only two years [of playing]," Mothersbaugh said, "he has an impressive John Entwistle style."
Mothersbaugh is hesitant to tour with the Wipe-Outers. "In Devo, we were looking good, and we had these really high testosterone levels. We were in our 20s and didn't know any better. Probably what will happen is that we will foolishly agree to a few dates here and there and regret it afterwards. That's my guess."
ROLLING STONE.COM
Daily News article
"Devo Return As Wipeouters"
By Jaan Uhelszki
03/08/2001
Just when you thought it was safe to back to the airwaves comes the news that Devo has reunited . . . kind of. Founding members, Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh (Bob I) and Robert Casale (Bob II) -- along with new sidekick Josh Mancell have given life to the Wipeouters -- a formerly fictional band that they claim launched the spin-off known as Devo.
Under the new moniker, the New Wave pioneers recorded P'twanng!!!, an album of surf tunes due out on April 24th on the Los Angeles-based indie label, Casual Tonalities. While they won't be doing "Whip It" and "Beautiful World," the wacky progenitors have cooked up an album of tunes with titles like titles as "Wedgie Wipeout," "Nubie Boardsmen," "Ravin' Surf" and "Shut Up Little Man" without ever hanging ten in their land-locked life.
Among the special guests on the album are original Devo drummer Jim Mothersbaugh and bassist and vocalist Jerry Casale, as well as the Casales' seventy-year-old father, Robert Casale Sr., who makes a guest appearance on bass.
BILLBOARD.COM
Daily News article
"Devo Members Reunite As Surf Band"
By Todd Martens, L.A.
03/07/2001
Three original members of Devo have gotten back together, but don't expect them to be bringing "Whip It" to a town near you. Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Mothersbaugh, and Robert Casale have reunited as a surf-rock outfit under the moniker the Wipeouters. "It's Devo goes to the beach," says a spokesperson for the band. The new group's debut album, "P'Twaang," will be released on April 24 on Casual Tonalities.
Devo fans can expect "P'Twaang" to be loaded with original, tongue-in-cheek material. Tracks on the album include "Wedgie Wipeout," "Nubie Boardsmen, "Ravin' Surf," "Shut Up Little Man," and "Luna Goona Park." The album will also feature the theme song to Nickelodeon's "Rocket Power." The band isn't expected to tour, but the spokesperson says they will likely play a few dates in Los Angeles.
This being Devo, of course, the Wipeouters' album is part of a larger, fictionalized concept, albeit one that's a bit sillier than Devo's theory of devo-lution. The band will be marketed as if the Wipeouters -- not Devo -- was the original group, and "P'Twaang" is being pitched as the Wipouters' "reunion" album.
Devo last reunited under a fictional persona in the summer of 1999, when they acted as a lounge band between bingo sessions at a benefit for the Santa Monica Museum of Art in Southern California. In truth, the Wipeouters was the name of the first band Casale played in, according to the spokesperson.
Original Devo drummer Jim Mothersbaugh and founding bassist Gerry Casale make guest appearances on "P'Twaang," which was recorded at Mark's Mutato Muzika compound in West Hollywood. Josh Mancell, an in-house composer at the studios, is also a member of the new-wave surf group.
RELATED LINKS:
MUTATO
The Wipeouters very own studio and home for all that is Devo
THE RUGRATS MOVIE SCORE
Also available from Casual Tonalities, composed by Mark Mothersbaugh
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