As a parent who can recite the lyrics to nearly the complete Wiggles and Hi-5 catalogue, I often think of ways to get my 2.75 year old daughter to take an interest in something other than the melodic fairy floss that makes up her daily listening and viewing.

Salvation may have arrived from an unlikely source: Disney. Well to be precise, Disney and original DEVO founding members Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale.

The flower pot dome wearing non-conformists who gave us memorable classics such as "Freedom of Choice", "Whip it" and "Girl U Want" and the unforgettable guitar riff from "Uncontrollable Urge" have combined forces with Disney to produce the reincarnation of DEVO, otherwise known as DEV2.0.

Fronted by 5 young teenagers with a female lead vocalist, DEV2.0 'perform' most of DEVO's original hits albeit some of the lyrics changed to suit the five to eight year demographic. But with Mothersbaugh and Casale at the helm the songs sound nearly identical to their original compositions, sans the vocals.

Some might argue Mothersbaugh and Casale have sold out with this venture, but if it were not for the fact that they are personally controlling the entire concept then I might agree.

Incidentally, this is the first of many 'remake the band' projects on the drawing board for Disney, with a partnership with "the Go-go's" said to be in the pipeline.

Testament to DEVO's music being far ahead of its time, the DEV2.0 music sounds right at home in 2006 and is remarkably suited to the kid band concept; almost as if it were part of the grand DEVO plan.

Before you dismiss that last sentence, know that Mothersbaugh once went on record to say that the original plan for DEVO was to be more like a think-tank, where people would go out and be the performers and it would not necessarily have to be them.

DEV2.0 will no doubt take both children and parents by surprise. If you ever needed another excuse to listen to more DEVO, or you need a break between listening to episodes of Hi5 and The Wiggles, then you could do a lot worse than grabbing a copy of DEV2.0's debut CD or DVD for your kid(s).

Links:

• Official Disney DEV2.0 web site
• Fast Focus DEVO - DEV2.0 promo video