Hardcore Devo, Vol. 2: 74-77

Cassette available on Rykodisc (0208).
Although HARDCORE VOL. 1 contained many an early Devo oddity, many stones were still left unturned. The vaults were explored once more for HARDCORE VOL. 2, again consisting of demos from Devo's early years, prior to the release of their debut album. This set contains much more material than it's predecessor--it's nearly seventy minutes in length (twenty-one tracks in all), and consists mostly of compositions never used by the band. Although the overall quality of the tracks isn't quite up to the standard of VOL. 1, Devo fanatics will definitely find more than a few rough gems.
The only tracks that will already be familiar to Devo's more serious fans are "Be Stiff," "Clockout," and their cover of "Working In A Coalmine." The rest are previously unheard. Devo's early work turns out to be more crass than their future material would be, as evidenced by the politically incorrect "I Need A Chick" and "Baby Talkin' Bitches." But not all of the material is so in-your-face. There's the melodic "A Plan For U" and "Goo Goo Itch," while other tracks tend to be more abrasive ("U Got Me Bugged," "Can You Take It?" etc.).