Devo Prequel The Wipeouters Surfs Into Stores Today

04/24/2001 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Neal 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.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

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