Everybody’s Just Like You

“That’s Good” by Devo from the album Oh, No! It’s Devo
Second Week of November, 1982

I don’t know how Mark Motherbaugh feels about the fact that every song that he’s ever sung is compared to the only one that ever charted. “Whip It” is a good song, but it certainly isn’t transcendent. In fact, Devo (an underrated band if there ever was one) has a number of really good albums to their credit, including the vastly critically underacclaimed effort Duty Now for the Future.

But where “Whip It” seems a little overproduced, “That’s Good” seems to be a little cleaner. It’s got a similar meter and even has a similar snapping sound in the background, but the overall net result comes out less “synth-y” than “Whip It.” I don’t know how else to describe it. The lyrics are a pretty sharp critique of the early-80s materialism that gripped the U.S. (and pales in comparison to today’s consumer-driven society).

All told, Devo have put out better songs through their quarter-century of music making, but this one’s all right. It’s got a good chorus and some catchy lyrics and I really don’t ask for much more than that out of the music that I play on my iPod.

—G.W.