When Devo comes to mind, the band’s iconic visuals appear just as fast as the electronics-infused rock and roll: wedding-cake shaped “energy dome” hats, industrial yellow jumpsuits, the satirically over-the-top Americana of the Whip It video. When you mingle these visuals with the classic songs and the deeper motivation beneath the surface, a documentary about the band seems like a no-brainer.

Chris Smith’s film is very much what you might expect and hope for from a Devo documentary, while also being highly informative and entertaining. It tells the story of the band’s origins, its most iconic output and the output made as the project declined.

The band – and the art project that lead to it – formed in Ohio at Kent State University in 1970 in the midst of the Vietnam War protests and the police shooting on campus that killed four and injured nine. Starting as a project.