Devo documentary streaming at Netflix, announces soundtrack

A new companion album drops this fall

Devo, the feature documentary about the pioneering New Wave band Devo, is now streaming globally as a Netflix Original. The film premiered at Sundance 2024.

Acclaimed filmmaker Chris Smith (Wham!, Fyre, 100 Foot Wave, and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond) captures the gloriously radical spirit that is Devo, a rare band founded by a philosophy; a Dada experiment of high art meets low, hellbent on infiltrating American popular culture. Through never-before-seen archival and interviews with Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, and Jerry Casale, Devo relishes in the highs, lows, surreal moments and incredible performances of a 50-year career, embracing the spectacle of the band from their lo-fi beginnings to pioneers of the music video in the early days of MTV’s cultural dominance.

Band members are open with their memories and archives, charting their origins as Kent State University arts students shaped by the activism of the late 1960s. Following the 1970 massacre on their campus, the band’s concept of cultural “De-Evolution” turned from satirical humor to urgent social commentary, and what began as subversive counterprogramming to KSU’s 1973 arts festival would go on to warn of, comment on, and reflect the absurdism of the late 20th century. Finding mainstream success at the height of 1980s consumerism, Devo soundtracked the De-Evolution they’d long predicted – and influenced a 21st century they’d have never believed.

Devo is a Library Films/Vice Studios production in association with Mutato Entertainment, presented by BMG, Undeniable (a Fremantle label), and Warner Music Group. The film is available exclusively on Netflix now.

Accompanying the band’s documentary is a companion piece, Energy Dome Frequencies: Songs From The Devo Documentary, available as a single LP and CD on October 31st via Rhino. The set will feature unforgettable Devo hits like “Girl U Want,” “Uncontrollable Urge,” and their platinum-certified single, “Whip It.”

Up next, the group is gearing up to unite with The B-52’s for the 2025 Cosmic De-Evolution Tour: a co-headlining 12-date run serving as both bands’ continuing concert farewells. Lene Lovich will open the celebratory trek, which launches September 24th in Toronto and wraps November 2nd in Houston.