Are They Not KoRn?
July 26, 2007 2:43 PM   Subscribe

Devolution: Nature's U-Turn is a new music video concept by rock band KoRn for their single Evolution. The premise? Mankind isn't evolving, it's devolving... getting dumber by the day. Wait. Haven't we seen this before? We have, and Devo's Gerald V. Casale isn't happy. "We denounce this as impostors playing with fire." he says of Korn on the Club Devo website. He elaborates in a new interview with Rolling Stone, including a possibility of their first new record in 20 years. Devo's also put out a new song, "Watch Us Work It", which appears in a commercial for Dell laptops [youtube link], with a official music video and single release to come.
posted by SansPoint (57 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I vote we make them fight it out in a pit, gladiator-style. Sure, KoRn would come out swinging, and swinging hard, but it'll all be over seconds later when the Spudmen whip out the Disint-O-Grator rays and turn KoRn into greasy smears.
posted by lekvar at 2:51 PM on July 26, 2007


are we not men?
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 2:55 PM on July 26, 2007


"Some call is [sic] Montezuma's revenge; some call it inevitable"
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 2:59 PM on July 26, 2007


Ironic considering that bands like Korn are emblematic of that very devolution.

Regardless of any pretensions towrds "art", Korn is knuckledragging MookRock for rural meth-tards.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 3:00 PM on July 26, 2007 [12 favorites]


Something about the way you taste
Makes me want to clear my throat.
posted by Sailormom at 3:03 PM on July 26, 2007


"Fields is currently embattled with the Institute in a string of lawsuits over the "Devolution" trademark."

That statement is either highly ironic, or highly moronic....
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 3:05 PM on July 26, 2007


Devo: “Their fanbase, being pretty cretinous, took it like a serious smackdown,” Casale says. “They started writing vicious hate-filled e-mails saying, ‘You guys don’t own the word “devolution” What makes you think you can come out of retirement and say stuff about the great Korn?’ We went, ‘Wow, this is insane. This is a perfect example of devolution. You’re a case in point, pal. Gee, I’m sorry we thought all this up thirty years ago and have been putting it out there and preaching it ever since.’”

Senor Cardgage: "Regardless of any pretensions towrds "art", Korn is knuckledragging MookRock for rural meth-tards."

I couldn't have said it better.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 3:12 PM on July 26, 2007 [2 favorites]


Mook Rock indeed - plus, their South Park guest appearance was no great shakes.
posted by porn in the woods at 3:15 PM on July 26, 2007


I always hated KoRn, bit now that they're messing with my Devo, I just got this to say: it's war, motherfuckers!
posted by piratebowling at 3:18 PM on July 26, 2007


Hey KoRn, Toys R Us called, they need their backwards-"R" back.
posted by brain_drain at 3:18 PM on July 26, 2007 [5 favorites]


I thought Devo were through being cool? Guess not.
posted by basicchannel at 3:21 PM on July 26, 2007


Theᴙe aᴙe plenty of 'taᴙds out there living ᴙeally kick ass lives.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:27 PM on July 26, 2007


korn and devo are closely related. like shit and stink.
posted by quonsar at 3:31 PM on July 26, 2007


quonsar is clearly a mongoloid.
posted by stenseng at 3:36 PM on July 26, 2007 [2 favorites]


So here's a dilemma. Do I post...

Snarky comment a:

My understanding is that KoRn will take the album's themes a step further with the release of a sequel -- Evolution -- which will be EXACTLY THE SAME ALBUM, only rerecorded by a band that isn't comprised of complete morons.

OR...

Snarky comment b:

If KoRn devolves much further, there won't be anything in that jewel case but some protoplasm and maybe the beginnings of an eyeball and some teeth.

I mean, Christ, it's like Sophie's Choice over here.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:38 PM on July 26, 2007


So, KoRn fans are mongoloids? Are they happier than you and me?
posted by infinitewindow at 3:42 PM on July 26, 2007


I always thought of Korn as a band for people who thought that Tool was just too sophisticated and deep. Or they liked the bagpipes. Either or.
posted by klangklangston at 3:44 PM on July 26, 2007 [3 favorites]


Yeesh, I'd be embarrassed if I were KoRn (a shitty band, too). It's not like it's a single song or even a single album, the idea of Devo-lution is in every album and even their name.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 3:46 PM on July 26, 2007


korn and devo are closely related. like shit and stink.
posted by quonsar

Is eponysterical cromulent when it's not the user name so much as the user?
posted by vito90 at 3:51 PM on July 26, 2007


The word devolution has been around since the fifteenth century. I could understand the complaint if the name of their band was "Devolution," but complaining because someone used the word and the concept? Sketchy.
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 3:56 PM on July 26, 2007


I'm sorry, Jerry, anybody who allowed "Devo 2.0" to come into existence gets very little sympathy from me.

That said...that Dell video's just fun. : . )
posted by adamgreenfield at 3:58 PM on July 26, 2007


L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg, since DEVO's been using the term and concept for 35+ years, and they're not getting any credit from Korn, I think they have a case.

Had Korn given credit where credit was due, wouldn't be having this discussion.
posted by SansPoint at 3:59 PM on July 26, 2007


Evolution and devolution are NOT antonyms. Evolution is NOT progress, or positive change, it is merely change in fitness. Devolution is a value judgement, evolution is a statement about change.

Idiots.
posted by wilful at 3:59 PM on July 26, 2007


The concept of devolution as the process of humanity evolving into a lower life form was used in Inherit the Wind as far back as 1955. If Devo credits Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee on all their albums, then maybe there's something notable here.
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 4:17 PM on July 26, 2007


will the korn musicians wear flowerpots on their heads? that might be an infringement.
posted by bruce at 4:20 PM on July 26, 2007


Hey, lookee, two separate groups of retards came up with something as stupid as devolution. And they're fighting over it!

Yay.

(I actually don't have any problem with the music of korn or devo. First rule of any artistic endeavor: separate the art from the artist. Too many artists are douche bags, and too many great folks create shit art. The art and the artist are separate).
posted by teece at 4:23 PM on July 26, 2007


I don't like either of them, thank God for the Internet (or who made it), now I can download stuff, give it a try and throw it out if I don't like it.

Korn and Devo's music reunited in my trashcan, before being totally crashed.

But seriously, this Copyright shit begins to f**k with my mind, the quality of the "creation" is not in question here, it's the use of my COPYRIGHT.

Here it's some "battle" between people that can afford to battle, but what about all those artists out there that are trying to make great art but can't afford to hire a full time attorney to look at what they can say or do or f**k.

Culture is now a hostage of COPYRIGHT.

We're f****d, culture is dying.

And Korn and Devo SUX, sorry for the fans.
posted by zouhair at 4:43 PM on July 26, 2007


why don't you just call the wahmbulance zouhair?
posted by foot at 4:47 PM on July 26, 2007


Metafilter: knuckledragging MookRock for rural meth-tards.
posted by zardoz at 4:58 PM on July 26, 2007 [2 favorites]


W.T.F.

A band metafilter folk likes are arguing with another band the same folk don't like and the thing that they're most in a stew about is the possibility of maybe, sort of, intellectual theft. Which isn't any kind of theft in reality, but the re-expression of an idea which has been expressed many times in many different places. And even this would be OK if those metafilter people weren't the exact same people that get their panties in a bunch about how stifling modern copyright laws are.

If there's any evidence of an idiocracy here, then it's right here on the blue.

p.s. your favourite band sucks.

p.p.s. On a biological Darwinian level, there's probably no such thing as devolution. If our environment needs us to grow more hair and be stupider then that's evolution. You fucking retards.
posted by seanyboy at 5:02 PM on July 26, 2007 [4 favorites]


I will happily be the lone voice of dissent here. I find Korn's music to be quite engaging, and they have consistently produced some of the best videos I've seen.

Oh, and they used a bagpipe on their debut album. That was cool.

Devo also rocks.
posted by quin at 5:05 PM on July 26, 2007


Korn has chunks of corn in it's stool that are tougher than Devo! :o
posted by HyperBlue at 5:07 PM on July 26, 2007


I'd wager as Christians of the more orthodox nature Korn uses devolution is a somewhat different way than Devo.
posted by filchyboy at 5:54 PM on July 26, 2007


I have always imagined the following exchange leading to the naming of that band.

"Dude. I have the perfect name for our band: Korn."

"Corn? That is a pussy name. It's a fucking vegetable."

"But wait -- we change the 'c' to a 'k.'"

"Whoa. That's good. 'K's' are much tougher than 'C's.'"

"But we don't just use a 'K.' We use a backwards 'R!'"

"Holy fuck! Are you kidding me? Has that ever been done?"

"Nope. Fucking KORN!"

"That rocks!"
posted by flarbuse at 6:09 PM on July 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


I'm sorry, but the Devo fans need to take a fucking step back and realize they're getting worked up over someone who's pulling a god forsaken argument like "I thought of this 30 years ago." Yes, you did, but you were also superceded by several thousand other people who observed the same thing, which is covered by the theory of Entropy. Hooray for you for making money off it 30 years ago, please continue to come up with "original" ideas and make more money off those as well. Otherwise fuck off.

And Korn. Yay, selling anger and disenfranchisement through music, rebelling against the music industry that lines your pockets with cash by making a song called Y'all Want A Single, a truly brilliant marketing ploy, which got a lot of people to think you were edgy and brilliant, coming back to your roots as musicians railing against the system, while at the same time being so entrenched in that system that your albums are carried at Walmart, earning you money hand over fist. Yes, cool guys to hang out with after the show and talk trash about the world and stupid people, but really, after all the talk, you still don't preach anything beyond simplistic emotion views with a hard rock backing track. Please tell us something we don't already know.


And anyone who thinks this matters one iota, please allow Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip inform you that all your favorite musicians are "JUST A BAND."
posted by daq at 6:10 PM on July 26, 2007


First there was Devo, now there is KoRn. Perhaps there's something to this 'devolution' thing?
posted by pompomtom at 6:27 PM on July 26, 2007


Oh, No! It's KoR-n

KoRn Trick
KoRn Trick

KoRn Trick
KoRn Trick

KoRn Trick
KoRn Trick

posted by Smart Dalek at 6:32 PM on July 26, 2007


Though I think Devo's done some good stuff in their time, and I dug Korn's debut album - I'm gonna side w/Korn on this one. Pretty much cause of this part..

"He elaborates in a new interview with Rolling Stone, including a possibility of their first new record in 20 years. Devo's also put out a new song, "Watch Us Work It", which appears in a commercial for Dell laptops"

So, Korn tries to make a statement to a new group of youth that may have never heard the term, making a social statement via their music and Devo has the gall to pull the "you guys are such cretins" line while making music for Dell commercials???

Oh, and Devo 2.0.

So, I say Korn wins this one.
posted by revmitcz at 6:56 PM on July 26, 2007


waitaminute.. on that first link, there's a sidebar with 2 separate links to Devo stuff.

Are Devo not literate?
posted by revmitcz at 6:59 PM on July 26, 2007


revmitcz Those actually weren't there when I posted this. Honest and true.
posted by SansPoint at 7:13 PM on July 26, 2007


First off, the Dell commercial is retarded. I thought Mark Mothersbaugh had retired to a Danny Elfman-esque life of making soundtrack music, but no he had to go fuck shit up again, only in a totally stupid way.

Second, why does Dell name their computers such catch names as "Dell XPS M1330"? It's a wonder they sell anything.

Third, I was watching this yesterday. God it's awesome. What ever happened to this type of shit?
posted by fungible at 7:29 PM on July 26, 2007


Wouldn't a DEVO PEZ set be just about the coolest thing ever?

I know I'D pay some big bucks for one.
posted by yhbc at 7:30 PM on July 26, 2007


Korn stood on Devo's shoulders and hoped people would think that they were actually that tall, and that shit about Darwin isn't nearly funny enough to justify going that far over the line. But that's not why I'm going over to their house with a pitchfork and a torch. They need to lay the fuck off of Thelonious Monk.
posted by Eothele at 7:34 PM on July 26, 2007


A much better commercial from devo.
posted by fungible at 7:36 PM on July 26, 2007


I won't lie and say this isn't anything much more than a case of your band sux, but Devo were way cooler than Koᖆn will ever be. Their entire career has been an example of devolution. The early stuff was conceptually awesome and well executed. Their pioneering work in music+video was pretty sweet. From this they slowly go corporate and ultimately become corporate shills. It's perfect.

Koᖆn, on the other hand, has never really impressed me with being anything other than clever 311 clones who were, in turn, clever Urban Dance Squad clones.
posted by Fezboy! at 8:08 PM on July 26, 2007


foot: "why don't you just call the wahmbulance zouhair?"

Already did, never saw it come :(
posted by zouhair at 8:14 PM on July 26, 2007


Korn has chunks of corn in it's stool that are tougher than Devo! :o

Dude, Korn's a bunch of entitled Huntington Beach/Orange County wannabe surfer pussies. I used to see 'em at garage and basement punk shows all over the county. Amidst this, I watched them get their asses kicked and forcibly removed from punk shows about half a dozen times.

Not because anyone knew or cared who Korn was, then, but because they were just that fucking stupid.
posted by loquacious at 8:26 PM on July 26, 2007


Do clones de-evolve from the cell donor? Are they weaker physically? I have heard so.
posted by longsleeves at 8:28 PM on July 26, 2007


Speak of commercials, here's one DEVO did for Honda Scooters in 1984. They did an ad for Diet Coke in 1980, but it's not on YouTube...
posted by SansPoint at 8:33 PM on July 26, 2007


We're pinheads now
We are not whole
posted by Meatbomb at 8:47 PM on July 26, 2007


I hear you Burhanistan. I've got a Mongol weapon and tactics post on deck that I just haven't gotten around to finishing. The more facts you know about them, the less real they seem.
posted by quin at 9:15 PM on July 26, 2007


We have 'devolved' so badly that many of us now think 'devolve' means 'degenerate' (maybe because it looks like the reverse of 'evolve').
posted by Mocata at 1:49 AM on July 27, 2007


Wait, the guys in KoRn are still alive?
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:56 AM on July 27, 2007


There is only one way to resolve (devolve?) this: count the number of strings on each band's basses. Devo: 4, Korn:11 (at last count).
posted by signal at 6:43 AM on July 27, 2007


Don't bash Mongols. They were tough, clever bastards...

Mongol != Mongoloid

Quoth Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary:
"2 often not capitalized : of, relating to, or affected with Down syndrome"

Regarding commercials: The Complete Truth About De-Evolution contains a video about the wonders of LaserDisc, designed to be played in electronics stores. Also, Beautiful World [YT] was used in a red-and-white Target ad a few years back, and I almost barfed.
posted by Reggie Digest at 9:21 AM on July 27, 2007


Adam Greenfield: "I'm sorry, Jerry, anybody who allowed "Devo 2.0" to come into existence gets very little sympathy from me."

I'm still torn on that score, myself. At first I was appaulled by this very idea of Devo The Next Generation. It failed miserably from what I can tell. However, I think once again, the people behind Devo are simply ahead of their time, and we're just not good enough for them.

I gave the music a shot, and it's not a retread so much as a revisitation. Many of the same musicians were involved in making Devo 2.0's music. It's just the vocals that are new, with a young female voice performing Mark Mothersbaugh's role, and others filling in the harmonies.

It's eerie how easy that transformation is from geeky guy in the 80s to cheeky gal in the 00s. In 'Are You Experienced' Mothersbaugh tried to channel the soul of Jimi Hendrix in the video, and that largely fell on deaf ears to the mainstream. They didn't get it. In hindsight, what Mothersbaugh shoulda done was hire a very talented blues singer and let him/her do the vocals. Mutate the Devo sound to give it soul. Blur the two worlds together. He almost does that with Are You Experienced, but the experiment falls short.

This time, rather than try to pretend to be Brittney Spears (Mark's too old to pull that off), instead Mark hired a talented young pop diva type (Nicole Stoehr) and let her step into his old sneakers.

The result is actually eerily good, objectively speaking. Subjectively I was at first repulsed by the very idea, but Stoehr's actually not bad in those sneakers. Her performance kinda won me over despite my emotional objections to the idea. I had to begrudgingly admit I enjoyed the music.

It was still Devo after all. And she was, objectively speaking, talented in the context of what she was being asked to do.

Devo 2.0 is kinda artistically a continuation on their original theme, revisited for a newer generation. It was a failed experiment, but I kinda grok it. It's like they were proving a point, but it's also more plausible that Mark and the boys had to put their children through college and thought selling out to Disney would be the easiest way to do that.

Pop music today actually kinda stole from a lot of Devo's riffs and ideas. Spears. Timberlake. Lohan. Spice Girls. various boy bands. Their sound is synthesized and hightech. It's over the top. It's fabricated. It's sanitized. They're vain attempts to copy Devo; unsuccessful bootleg copies of The Original D.

It's just that Devo did it better because when they were doing it they were ahead of their time, and now these pop copycats are not unlike long haired apes banging rocks together, mimicking something they've long forgotten. Going through the motions but not understanding the soul of it all.

So DEVO 2.0 was selling out, but DEVO had always been about selling out. They were satirizing the pop mainstream by showing how easy it is to join it by just mocking it, but it's a catch-22. By joining it they kinda become a part of the problem. Of course, Mothersbaugh was never necessarily about changing this de-evolution curve. In fact DEVO was about celebrating it. Yay. We're humanity and we are devolving. Go us! We so suck! Yay.

Are we not men?
We are Devo.
We are de-evolving.
We must be Man.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:09 PM on July 27, 2007


...uhm. Back on topic. I don't find Korn very relevant. I've learned to appreciate Rage Against The Machine and to a lesser extent, Tool. Korn just doesn't do much for me, but the metal genre is admittedly not an area of expertise for me. I'm very picky which artists and groups in that genre I'll accept as good for my soul. =)
posted by ZachsMind at 6:20 PM on July 27, 2007


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