CSS: 'Donkey'

After every great knees-up comes a nasty hangover - and the come-down has been especially messy for Brazilian party animals CSS. After touring their debut album, Cansei De Ser Sexy, for more than a year, playing every festival/toilet venue in Europe in the process, the group realised their finances weren't quite in order and had barely a penny to rub together. In response they sacked their manager, who was soon followed out of the door by bassist Ira Trevisan.

Inter-band friction and financial woes weren't what music fans had come to expect from CSS. Lumped in with the 2006/7 nu-rave scene thanks to their electro-pop sound and close relationship with Klaxons, the band soon established a reputation as a fabulous live act, but their debut LP earned positive reviews too. With throwaway songs about Paris Hilton and "hot hot sex", there was a hint of novelty about the group, but unlike Goldie Lookin' Chain or The Darkness they had the tunes to back up the amusing lyrics.

However, nearly three years on from the original Brazilian recording of their debut, we find the band in a very different state. The group who sang 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above' are now writing tracks called 'Rat Is Dead (Rage)' and 'How I Became Paranoid'. Similarly, the endearing, rough-around-the-edges style of their debut has been replaced by a slick production sheen courtesy of renowned knob-twiddler Mark Stent.

Sometimes this new, more "professional" approach works in the band's favour. Opener 'Jager Yoga', an ode to the sticky brown German brew Jagermeister, is a robotic toe-tapper with a splendid pop hook ("Don't mess my holiday") and references to Absolutely Fabulous. 'Reggae All Night' is not, as its titles suggests, a UB40 tribute, but actually a twirling disco number with chunky bass, cowbells and cheeky bursts of synths. The infectious bubblegum pop of 'Move' is similarly impressive.

Sadly, these bright spots fail to alleviate the twinges of disappointment that this follow-up LP brings. The warmth and irreverence of CSS's debut has largely been lost among a fudge of distinctly average guitar tracks. The problems are clearly signposted on lead single 'Left Behind', which sounds like a giant chart hit being muffled by a misplaced desire to be taken seriously.

Singer Lovefoxxx, whose effervescence and catsuits lit up the band's first jaunts around British venues, is brought to the fore, but her voice lacks the guile to cope with the conventional, Breeders-influenced alt-rock that runs through the album's core. Her sharp twang is better suited to the call-and-response shrieks and half-raps of the group's debut than the verse/chorus conventions delivered on Donkey.

Cansei De Ser Sexy may have had its faults, but they gave CSS a sense of fun sorely lacking in many UK guitar acts. Yet second time around the situation is reversed, with 'Beautiful Song' and 'How I Became Paranoid' sounding as pedestrian as anything The Kooks or Razorlight have served up. Donkey sounds like it was recorded by a band under pressure to deliver hits and cash, but in trying to do so CSS have ended up diluting their original appeal.


> Click here for our recent interview with CSS