Rating: NNNN
Brazilian hipster kids CSS intro’d their debut with the self-deprecating chant of “CSS Suxxx,” setting a goofy tone for a record that didn’t take itself too seriously. Yet it was an undeniable blast.
Donkey kicks off with singer Lovefoxxx warning, “We didn’t come into the world to walk around / We came here to take you out,” a tough-talking line emblematic of their overall sense of confidence and growth. The silliness has vanished in favour of songs that allow members to get some hard emotions out.
Adriano Cintra provides the bulk of the 80s-pop-inspired material, writing about an abused friend in Rat Is Dead (Rage), tour burnout in Beautiful Song and general unease in a volatile world on How I Became Paranoid. But Donkey isn’t a downer. Move sounds like a modern equivalent of New Edition, and Let’s Reggae All Night is Lovefoxxx’s stoned sequel to Alcohol. No sophomore slumping here.
CSS hit the Kool Haus August 5.
