CD Reviews

CSS | La Liberacion

Downtown Records (2011)

By RYAN REED | August 23, 2011

2.5 Stars

On their third album, Brazilian dance-rock quintet CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy) make baby steps toward maturation, but old habits die hard. Ultimately, it's for the best — since what we've all loved so much about CCS is their carefree quirkiness. Silly-as-hell opener "I Love You" (replete with a booming '80s DJ voice) is all ass-blasting bass and frilly lingerie synths: a welcome bitchslap following the three-year gap since their last effort, the critically polarizing Donkey. "The rain is falling on my head/Bringing thoughts I never had/Like love and shit" — oh, so romantic! It's the sound of Lovefoxxx, our fearlessly sexy leader, trying her hardest not to soften up. Remember, this is the same voice behind rowdy tracks like "Art Bitch" and "Music is My Hot Hot Sex," so it's going to be a gradual process. "City Grrl" is painfully autobiographical, Lovefoxxx dramatizing her misfit youth and struggle to fit into the Big Bad City. But with her gay-friendly shout-outs and mentions of "short shorts, short skirts, flower tops" and "laughing and drinking with my one-night stands," the whole thing just comes off as B-side-Lady Gaga — and the overblown synths only fuel that comparison. It's fitting that La Liberacion opens with a song called "I Love You" and ends with one called "Fuck Everything." By album's end, CSS are back to their old irreverent ways, screaming that title lyric repeatedly, nearly drowned out by sax blasts and cowbell. "Fuck everything." Now there's a sentiment we can all get behind.

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Dance, rock, More

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