CSS
Donkey
Sub Pop / Tuba!

Cansei de Ser Sexy (Brazilian Portuguese for 'Tired of Being So Sexy'), or CSS in short, play art-dance-rock, some sort of brand and cool new wave for the hippest dance floors. The Brazilian combo - a five-piece, including 4 ladies and 1 lad - formed some five years ago, put out their debut Cansei de Ser Sexy (on Sub Pop) in 2006. To much rejoice and quite a bit of success. Here's the follow up. A donkey, as in stubborn?

CSS play energetic and catchy music. Imagine Air on helium meets a mixture of B52s and Tom Tom Club, or Garbage fronted by Gwen Stefani in the beams of the disco ball strobe lights. CSS is quite something different on the Sub Pop label. They're the first South American signed to the Sub Pop - in fact there aren't many non-US bands in the stable. Another fact is there aren't many South American bands around making a name in the Anglo-American pop and rock culture. Anyway, CSS are a bit cool, but in the long run I get tired of their songs/sound. They're not as tongue-in-cheek, sex-steamy (not that CSS are 'sex-less' - the singer's name is Lovefoxx...) or kitsch-like as Scissor Sisters, SCC are more of a rock band where S.S. play pure disco pop. But, CSS do have some enjoyable songs as well. Such as opening "Jager Yoga", "Rat Is Dead", "I Fly" and "Believe Achieve", plus the extremely bouncy-poppy closing track "Air Painter".

I guess the Donkey ride (Brazilian rodeo anyone?) is much better off in a sweaty club, a mojito in each hand.

Copyright © 2008 Håvard Oppøyen