Devo to Deliver Mitt Romney-Critiquing Single

Published Aug 14, 2012

Iconic pop culture deconstructionists Devo have long pooh-poohed political figures -- just checktrack "Enough Said," which proposed the idea of stacking leaders in the ring "and let them fight like hell to see who's king" -- and the latest officeholder to be ridiculed by the troupe is current U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney.An upcoming single from the act takes aim at the Republican's long-critiqued treatment of his family dog, Seamus, stemming from a 1983 incident in which Romney strapped an animal carrier holding the canine onto the roof of his car for a 12-hour trip."Don't Roof Rack Me, Bro! (Remember Seamus)" is set to drop August 25. Up above, you can see the cartoony artwork, featuring a pissed-off mutt sporting one of Devo's patented energy domes and a clueless, grinning caricature of Romney.While a preview of the track has yet to be delivered, the song and its message dovetail nicely into band member Jerry Casale's "Remember Seamus" campaign, which suggests U.S. voters "go off the leash by choosing a non-human as the most important political figure of this election. Make 2012 the year where animals like Seamus are valued and honesty is praised." The campaign website uses some Shepard Fairey-esque portraits of Seamus, similar to Fairey's "Hope" portrait of President Barack Obama that popped up during the 2008 presidential campaign.As the story goes, Romney placed Seamus, now deceased, in a carrier that he rigged up with a windshield and tied the portable kennel to his car roof for a trip between the family's Belmont, MA home and Lake Huron. The move has been critiqued by PETA, and former Republican candidate Newt Gingrich, among others, over the years.Thanks to Slicing Up Eyeballs for the tip.