Album Review: CSS - Planta. Here Comes the Summer!

Summer of 2013 starts here. The great survivors of a decade of hard partying have defied the odds and produced a lively, shimmering album, destined to drift out from apartment windows and traffic jams on a hot summer days.  Aaah, the Summer of 13, with Lovefoxx singing “Ooooh, what’s your name?” Those were the days.

Planta is the first album after the departure of the talented song writer Adriano Cintra. Rather than imploding in the wake of this, as CSS were fully expected to do, the girls grit their teeth and carried on, just as New Order, AC/DC and Pink Floyd did after their own personnel crises. And, like these illustrious predecessors, they have emerged stronger and more focused for it. At their recent gig in Hoxton, Lovefoxxx appeared on stage in a massive butterfly-like outfit - a symbol of the band’s pupation and transformation into the upbeat, creative group of Brazilian women you see today.

In the absence of Cintra, the band recognised that they needed a catalyst in the studio, and TV On The Radio's David Sitek stepped in and let the girls run riot in his LA house. The resulting album is fizzing with ideas, daring rhythms and unexpected melodic ventures. Photos of the band’s sojourn at chez Sitek show the fun being had there, and this infuses the record.

The songs are worth going through individually:  

Honey. A melodic opener which strong vocal, with unmistakable similarities to the hard beats of fellow crisis-survivors, New Order. Indeed, this number could easily have been written and sung by Bernard Sumner. “I wonder when I am going to see you again.”  Pure 80s Mancunian new dance, with a Brazilian twist – what’s not to like here?

Into the Sun. The sound of summer – a song about new beginnings. Highly emotional and optimistic, with an ecstatic chorus. This could be a massive single. It’s certainly a massive song.

Girlfriend. CSS suddenly and expectedly turn into the Beatles, with Lovefoxxx even managing a Lennon-esque rasp – and the melody is pure Rubber Soul. Again, however, a twist. The stately and rather stern chorus suddenly gives way to a whimsical female internal dialogue a la Molly Bloom. One of the strongest tracks on the album.

Dynamite, is just that . . . a musical explosion of bass and Lovefoxxx  in extremis. I saw this performed live in London, and it blew the roof off. An instant classic, with echoes of the Stranglers and Siouxsie.

Sweet starts off as another techno number, early Human League. As the pulsating introduction goes on you expect Phil Oakey to come in . . . What is even better, however, is how  Lovefoxxx addresses us with sober and grandiloquent vocals. Not the fluffy delivery of old, but a newly mature and serious tone. A grower.

Too Hot. Just to show Lovefoxxx’s versatility, we go straight into a sweet evocation of teenage longing. Luiza Sá's and Carolina Parra’s inventive guitar and bass add a hard edge to this song - the view from a single girl’s bedroom.

Teenage Tiger Cat is a burlesque, joyous disco-fuelled pop song, with great rhythm and unusual supporting vocals, before a roller coaster of a chorus. Actually, it would be the perfect track for a funfair. Disco meets high rides in the future video?  Strong, creative stuff.

Frankie Goes to North Hollywood, is total surprise – a lament for an absent friend, with inventive rhythms and sad, nostalgic vocals. I can’t help thinking that this could be a peace offering for Adriano Cintra. After all the laughing they must have done together, you’d think . . . Is it?

The Hangout is perhaps my favourite track on the whole album –  one of those songs that seems to have been around forever, hanging in the air; waiting for somebody to catch and record it. So simple and melodic, with reggae beats and yearning keyboards from Ana Rezende. I saw the girls play this at the NME acoustic session, and it was perfect. This is an eternal - a campfire song, where people smile and snuggle up. Yummie.

The final song, Faith in Love is a real departure for CSS. Serious and communicating feelings of longing, sadness - of dawn, of being alive. Not the kind of thing one expects from the band, as the song lacks the playfulness of their more popular numbers, but it demonstrates how far they have come - and the potential they have. CSS still have surprises in store.

Overall, this is a must buy album. CSS are the real deal – a creative, daring and passionate group of artists, second to none at the moment. Ana Rezende, Luiza Sá and Carolina Parra are skilful, playful musicians who lay down intoxicating soundscapes for Lovefoxxx’s melodic musings. Together they have gone through crisis, and emerged stronger, more confident, more compelling. With a full American tour starting this week, you would not bet against CSS going massive this Summer.

For a fan like me, that would be something of a pity, as I love their intimate, spontaneous gigs and the fact that they are just under the radar. Of course, that is purely selfish of me, and I wish them all the success in the world. Having gone through so much, they deserve it.

Summer 2013 is going to be a scorcher.

Rating: 10/10

Review: CSS in London and the NME, May 2013.

CSS are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Founded in 2003 in São Paulo as Cansei de Ser Sexy (“tired of being sexy”) they have always been lo-fi, sunny, quirky. Above all, however, CSS have always seemed ephemeral. Their fun-loving, slacker approach to things has always given the impression that they would inevitably fall apart, leaving behind a few hummable songs and memories of some blissful, chaotic concerts. The band have always had dissolution in their DNA.

Yet CSS have survived – they’re still here, ten years on, giggling, gigging and about to release their fourth album, Planta.

Against the odds and against all expectations, they survived their biggest crisis when songwriter and instrumentalist Adriano Cintra left the band in 2011 amidst a world tour. I was due to see them a few weeks later at the Heaven nightclub in London, and was horrified by the news. In the days leading up to the gig, I nervously awaited word that they had split up. I wouldn't have blamed them, and fully expected to be asking Heaven for a refund. However, the day arrived with no news, and I turned up to find the club full to the rafters and buzzing with anticipation. Having recently bought the lyrical, shambolic album La Liberación, I was buzzing too. But, how could they possibly perform without Adriano? How good could they be?

The answer came bounding on stage with a frizzy wig and leather jacket. Heaven exploded, and responded immediately with echoes of “calling, calling” to the opening number. Lovefoxxx had hit the stage.

Simply put, Lovefoxxx is one of the great contemporary performers.  Her very presence is enough to start a party, and that’s partly what makes CSS events so exciting and intoxicating – they are not gigs in the traditional sense, but carnivals, celebrations.

That night, the wig and leather jacket came off quickly to reveal a red haired, hot panted Luísa Matsuchita leading the singing of “Short shorts, short skirts / Flower tops, denim shirts / In the big city, nothing hurts, nothing hurts”. And you know what . . . nothing did that night, as she threw herself into the crowd, and Luiza Sá, Carolina Parra and Ana Rezende kept the beats and melodies flowing - everybody danced. 

Nothing hurt . . until the next morning that is, when my head certainly did. Before going to bed, I had tweeted about what a storming gig the girls had put on. Turning on my IPad, I saw that they had actually replied to me. CSS are like that.

A year past. A year listening to the albums, and following Lovefoxxx’s various DJ stints and collaborations, such as with Steve Aoki on the catchy and strangely moving Heartbreaker. Actually the song was so catchy that it stuck in my head for a week, and I had to hum Beethoven’s 8th loudly to muffle it out.

Again the expectation, the conviction, that what seemed ephemeral, actually was. OK, so the girls had managed to pull off the gig of the year without Adriano . . . but what about the songs, perfectly pitched for the four intoxicating muses? Could they write their own material? With Lovefoxxx herself being a one-woman brand for cool, and getting all the work she needed, why would she bother? Would Luiza, Carol and Ana form another band?

As the year rolled on, the CSS tweets and Facebook entries became fewer and fewer. They did a series of entertaining, chaotic, radio shows in LA. At least they still enjoyed each other’s company, but the expectation was that they would fade into the Californian sunshine.

Then out of the blue, and totally unexpectedly, guitarist Luiza Sá posted that they were doing a fourth album.  The tweets and Facebook entries started up again, along with pics of the girls in residence at an LA house, swimming, smiling, partying. A UK date popped up, with perhaps the most appropriate sounding announcement of all time, “CSS at All Tomorrow’s Parties, Camber Sands, Sussex”.  It was like a keyword distillation of the band:

CSS

Parties.

Sands.

Sex.

Then came news of the London gig on Hoxton Square. I hurriedly bought a ticket, and put it on the mantelpiece.

I counted down the days, then a chilly Monday 13^th May 2013 arrived. I met a couple of friends for drinks and trouped over to the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen for a few more, before joining the expectant sell-out crowd.

Ana, Luiza and Carol came bouncing on with a male drummer, and Lovefoxxx followed, strangely subdued, and complaining of being cold (she was right to). This incarnation of Lovefoxxx had a painted face, long, long, black hair, and she was wearing a substantial and rather stiff cloak. Very Dada - Lovefoxxx as Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.

And the band did their thing, effusively, infectiously. The musicians, Ana, Carol and Luiza seemed to be having the time of their life up there – laughing, pointing, acting up . . and man, they were good. Often overlooked is that CSS are a very tight, hard hitting band. Luiza Sá struts and preens self-mockingly like a young Keith Richards. Carolina Parra keeps it all together, surveying the others knowingly. And then there is Ana Rezende – keyboard maestro, and heart of the band. The three slide and dance, carve out rhythms and hooks, weaving their unique, euphoric magic.

Shortly into the gig, the stangely subdued Lovefoxxx suddenly raised her hands; the levers in her stiff cloak clicked in, and she became a huge butterfly. Lovefoxxx reborn! After a couple of minutes as this startling, rhythmic insect, she dispensed with the contraption, and became the centre of the party she always is. The rest of the gig was an uplifting melange of old and new, with a thunderous duet at the end, with the girls yelling “I seen you drunk girl, but you ain’t drunk yet.”

I, however, was indeed drunk, and drifted off into the night with my ears ringing.

I forgot to mention that in the run up to this gig, Kevin Perry, Deputy Editor of the NME, had tweeted asking whether any CSS fans would like to see their session at the NME offices. Err . . yes, I replied. Yes, please.

So on the following Wednesday morning I turned up to the NME offices in a cab, only to see the girls in shades passing from their car into the building – the Rolling Stones at their coolest did not look as cool as this. After a long wait downstairs, fifteen young fans and myself – a rather old fan – were ushered up to the huge offices on the 9^th floor. At the end of the corridor sat the girls, with a couple of friends and a bearded bongo drummer.

Lovefoxxx opened her arms beatifically: “Thank you so, much for coming!!” she smiled, with genuine warmth, as the young fans sat cross-legged in front of her like disciples around the Buddha. Luiza Sá started to strum, the bongo drummer kicked in and Lovefoxxx began to sing their latest, and self-penned, number, “Hangover”. It was rather like sitting around a camp-fire on a beach in Brazil. With a bit of banter and chat in between, the band did another three or four songs, and that was it. Morning had broken.

I left the NME offices glad that I had gone and seen a new side to the band. CSS, acoustic? Who would have thought that would work? It started to rain; and as I crossed the Thames, I smiled as I thought about these bright, funky Brazilian women. When they play together something happens, something rare. Luiza, Luisa, Carolina and Ana make the world more fun, less predictable, more human. CSS are four girls against the world - and they are winning.

Will I ever see them again? I really don’t know – they are ephemeral, after all.

But I hope so.