While they did not release any albums during this period,
Devo recorded a number of songs for various films and compilations since their reunion,
including a cover of the Nine Inch Nails hit, "Head Like a Hole" for the film Supercop.
In 2005 Devo recorded a new version of "Whip It" to be used in Swiffer television commercials,
a decision they have said they regretted. During an interview with the Dallas Observer, Gerald Casale said,
"It's just aesthetically offensive. It's got everything a commercial that turns people off has.".
The song "Beautiful World" was also used in a re-recorded form for an ad for Target stores.
Due to rights issues with their back catalog, Devo often would use re-recorded songs for films and ads.
In 2005, Gerald Casale announced his "solo" project, Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers
(the Evildoers themselves including the other members of Devo), and released the first EP,
Army Girls Gone Wild in 2006. A full length album, Mine Is Not A Holy War was released on September 12, 2006
after a several-month delay. It features mostly new material, plus re-recordings of four very obscure Devo songs:
"I Need A Chick" and "I Been Refused" (from Hardcore Devo: Volume Two), "Find Out"
(which appeared on the single and EP of "Peek-A-Boo" in 1982), and "Beehive" (which was recorded by the band in 1974,
at which point it was apparently abandoned with the exception of one appearance at a special show in 2001).
Devo continued to tour actively in 2005 and 2006, unveiling a new stage show at shows in October 2006,
and an appearance of the Jihad Jerry character performing "Beautiful World" as an encore.
Devo 2.0 Also in 2006, Devo worked on a project with Disney known as Devo 2.0.
A band of child performers was assembled and re-recorded Devo songs.
A quote from the Akron Beacon Journal elucidates, "...Devo recently finished a new project in cahoots with Disney called Devo 2.0,
which features the band playing old songs and two new ones with vocals provided by children.
Mothersbaugh doesn't rule out the idea of the band gathering in the studio, eventually, to record a new Devo album."
Their debut album, a two disc CD/DVD combo entitled "DEV2.0", was released on March 14, 2006.
The lyrics of some of the songs have been changed for family-friendly airplay,
which has been claimed by the band to be a play on irony of sorts of the messages of their classic hits.
In an April 2007 interview, Gerald Casale mentioned an upcoming project for a movie about Devo's early days.
A script is supposedly being developed, tentatively called The Beginning Was the End,
though the production hasn't been confirmed yet. Casale also stated that there may be some new Devo material as well,
but whether this is related to the release of a movie or not is unclear.
Devo played their first European tour since 1990 in the summer of 2007, including a performance at Festival Internacional de Benicàssim.
In June 2008 McDonald's released a Happy Meal toy wearing the Devo Energy dome that they named "New Wave Nigel".
It was reported by AAP that a band member had initiated legal action against McDonald's
as the hamburger chain had copied trademarked elements of the band's look.
The following week it was reported a gag order had been placed on the band regarding further public statements on the matter.
By July 2008 various blogs referred to "an e-mail" from a colleague of the band's attorney that suggested the issue was "amicably resolved".
In December 2007, Devo released their first new single since 1990, "Watch Us Work It," which was featured in a commercial for Dell.
The song features a sample drum track from the New Traditionalists song, "The Super Thing".
The band has announced in a July 23, 2007, MySpace bulletin that a full length music video for the song was forthcoming,
and the song itself is available on iTunes and eMusic. Casale said that this song
was chosen from a batch of songs that the band was working on, and that also this is the closest the band has been to a new album.
In a December 5, 2007 article on Mutato Muzika, LA Weekly reported that
"After touring sporadically over the past decade but not releasing any new material,
Devo are spending December at Mutato trying to create an album’s worth of new material and
contemplating a method of dispersal in the post-record-company world." In a recent interview,
Mothersbaugh revealed a song title from the in-progress album: "Don't Shoot, I'm a Man".
However, in a radio interview on April 17, 2008, Jerry stated that Mark had "killed the project"
and that there would be no new Devo album. Casale, however, later stated that "We're going to finish what we started."
Devo's song, "Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy", was featured in EA Sports' skateboard video game, Skate.
The songs "Girl U Want" and "Through Being Cool" were released as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band on August 19, 2008.
The song "Uncontrollable Urge" is featured in the video game Rock Band 2. All three songs have been rerecorded exclusively for Rock Band.
Devo played dates in the United States, Japan, Australia, France, and Spain in the summer of 2008.
Also in 2008 the band remixed the Attery Squash song 'Devo Was Right About Everything'
which was released on the B-side to the Watch Us Work It vinyl 12" single.
They also remixed a song by Datarock, "Computer Camp", which can be heard on the band's MySpace page.
Datarock routinely cites Devo as an influence. 2008 also saw a Japan exclusive box set containing the band's first six albums,
This is the Devo Box. On October 17, 2008, Devo performed a special concert at the Akron Civic Theater,
their first in Akron since 1978, to promote Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
They were joined at the concert by fellow Akron-area musicians The Black Keys and Chrissie Hynde.
In an October 2008 interview, Devo confirmed that they would be completing their new album.
The Studio Notes section of the November 27 issue of Rolling Stone stated that
"Devo are working on their first album of new material since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps.
'We have about 17 songs we're testing out," says frontman Mark Mothersbaugh.
'We've already been contacted by 20 producers - including Snoop Dogg and Fatboy Slim.'"
Devo announced in early 2009 that they would be performing at SXSW on March 20th, with a warmup show in Dallas on March 18th.
At these shows, Devo performed a new stage show utilizing synchronized video, similar to the 1982 tour, new costumes,
and three new songs: "Don't Shoot, I'm a Man!", "What We Do", and "Fresh", which are tracks from their new album.
All of these songs included a video backdrop which the band performed in front of.
Devo also confirmed that they would be performing at All Tomorrow's Parties on May 6 and 8,
with the May 6th performance featuring the band performing their first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!,
in its entirety. The May 8th performance was a "greatest hits" show, for the ATP "Fans Strike Back" event.
In November 2009, Devo toured performances Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice with two-night stands in several cities.
Along with the tour, Warner Bros. Records released remastered editions of the two albums.
In April 2009 Devo debuted the music video for "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)" on their website, through Vimeo.
In the June 2009 issue of Rolling Stone, the band noted that the album's release had been pushed back to 2010 to allow for "radical remixing".
The album, Something for Everybody was eventually released in June 2010, preceded by a 12" single of "Fresh"/"What We Do".
Earlier in the year the band had performed at one of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics victory concerts at
Whistler Medals Plaza and donated a collection of objects to the Ohio Historical Society including an energy dome, jumpsuit, stickers, and t-shirts.
On September 16, 2009, Warner Bros. and Devo announced a re-release of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice, with a tour performing both albums.
They also remixed a song by Datarock, "Computer Camp", which can be heard on the band's MySpace page.
Datarock routinely cites Devo as an influence. 2008 also saw a Japan exclusive box set containing the band's first six albums,
This is the Devo Box. On October 17, 2008, Devo performed a special concert at the Akron Civic Theater,
their first in Akron since 1978, to promote Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
They were joined at the concert by fellow Akron-area musicians The Black Keys and Chrissie Hynde.
In an October 2008 interview, Devo confirmed that they would be completing their new album.
The Studio Notes section of the November 27 issue of Rolling Stone stated that
"Devo are working on their first album of new material since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps.
'We have about 17 songs we're testing out," says frontman Mark Mothersbaugh.
'We've already been contacted by 20 producers - including Snoop Dogg and Fatboy Slim.'"