CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy) - La Liberación

At risk of my blog becoming a samaritan stop for former indie darlings on the downwind of their careers, I should interject that I never really saw anything that exciting in the Brazilian outfit beyond a handful of catchy singles. So whilst their spot in the hearts of the malleable and disloyal might be deserted, let's try and sift through the wreckage. Not that bagging yourselves a Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain) and Mike Garson (David Bowie pianist) collaboration is anything to be ashamed of.

The opener 'I Love You' is a bold, loud and shrill kick-off that, with its staccato childish vocals and an instrumental that could quite conceivably be lifted off a Ke$ha album. It's not very good. Single 'Hits Me Like A Rock', about the unendingly exciting, surprising and thrilling aspect of music and its (repeated) discovery, has Gillespie on hand for an undeniably chirpy and cute track with some American western detours (very Scissor Sisters debut) and a husky, nostalgic vocal (I'm not sure how vocals can be nostalgic either. He sounds fond and subtle, okay?) from Gillespie. But the sugary pop is soon necked down with a shot of tequila in the form of 'City Grrrl', complete with brash synths and squelches and even a dash of brass. It's energetic enough but feels like a demo - as though all of the structural pieces have yet to be installed.


The repetitive flick between raw electronics and chipper country-pop becomes a little unnerving (like going line dancing with your aunt for Spring Break, or something...(not all anecdotes I insert are true, I must warn you)), especially on hearing 'Echo of Love'. An incredibly simple melody, it feels dated and uneventful. By contrast, 'You Could Have It All' verges on becoming overbearing - being that it saturates a simple piano tune with electronic sound effects, fluent lyrics and a heavy disco-rock bassline; but the band manage to pull it all together into the confines of a decent pop song. Finally some real signs of their primary indie tag make themselves clear on 'La Liberación' - an incredibly generic post-punk song that only really sticks out because they're singing in Spanish. Nonetheless, their vocals prevent the track from going stale, and instead inject a bit of youthful energy into it.

It does rather feel like an interlude though, since it neither follows on (from 'You Could Have It All') nor leads up to 'Partners In Crime'. "And from the get-go I always thought so: there's a place where we belong" they sing carelessly over some rather passionate piano pieces, with finally a genuine sense of untapped energy about them. Try to imagine Joy Division with Karen O as the vocalist and lyricist and that gives you 'Ruby Eyes' - a refreshingly laidback (by CSS standards) track that just feels more natural; less forced. "She's tired of all this crap" purrs Lovefoxxx on 'Rhythm to the Rebels' in amongst some profanities and other spat lyrics in some blatant attempt to regain the jejunity of their debut.

On 'Red Alert' the outfit are "all dressed up with nowhere to go" but by the end of the record (with the telling title 'Fuck Everything') the band could quite feasibly tour as a pastiche of themselves. Sure, trying to recreate something that was a huge success is often done (as I'm sure they themselves could've asked Bobby Gillespie and his, what, 20th re-release of Screamadelica now?) but it's been three albums now and if the band don't even care any more then why should the fans?


So whilst I did try to set out and find something new and exciting that the band could possibly have left in the tank - the band themselves even admit to the complete opposite. Alas, the CSS ship is sinking. Say hello to the Gossip on the seabed, guys.

Rating: 4.5/10
Highlights: Partners In Crime, Hits Me Like A Rock, You Could Have It All, Ruby Eyes
Avoid: Fuck Everything, Echo of Love, I Love You, Rhythm to the Rebels, Red Alert

Artwork Watch: Another bad parody of themselves.