CSS

CSS: Cansei De Ser Sexy (CD)
(2006)

From Brazil, CSS is the first South American band Sub Pop has foisted upon the global marketplace. The title is Portuguese for "Tired Of Being Sexy" and the sound is a thick, pulsating thing full of haphazard synths and a come-on of call and response that tears down any attempt at posturing. It's equal parts rock mantra and throwback into something new, transcending boundaries of genre and geography. It goes full speed into dance territory, into the unknown and untouched, to emerge all hot and bothered with wild electro-rock. Quick, tightly-wound, unfastened, and supreme. --CD description

Gimme a C! Gimme an S! Gimme another S! What does that spell? FUN!!! The latest addition to the Sub Pop family comes from Sao Paulo, Brazil! Although the band photo looked like a teenage version of Katrina And The Waves, the only other thing in common with that band is perhaps their stratospheric energy level. CSS are totally gleeful, brightly hued and tingling with electricity. It's like they took all these incredibly familiar pop hooks from the last few decades and made all new songs around them. But here's the giant good thing about it -- they sounds completely earnest. There's not a smidge of hipster irony (well, maybe except for the songs like "Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above" and "Meeting Paris Hilton" which is one of the better tunes). Fans of The Go Team will surely take a shine to this group. Positively bustin' at the seams with enthusiasm, they maintain the energy level of a half dozen pep squads throughout the eleven tunes, bubbling over at a breezy tempo. An aside, we were particularly charmed by their pronunciation of "Owff tha hoook". Folks with delicate ears, please note that they do have a bit of a pottymouth... although from their lips it comes across as pretty innocuous. Three cheers for CSS! Psst, in case you were wonderin', the album's title translates from Portuguese to English as "Tired Of Being Sexy". Ooh, such a burden, innit? --an Amazon reviewer