CSS - Donkey

CSS
Donkey
Sub Pop Records
Grade: A-

There was almost no way that these eclectic dance punkers from Brazil were going to top their incredibly awesome debut for Sub Pop, Cansei de Ser Sexy. And indeed Donkey doesn’t smoke and slam you with such irresistible rockers like “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above 1979.” However, the eleven-song Donkey is a smashing follow-up for this crew from Sao Paulo and even more of a reason to make you a true believe in dancing fun punk.

Originally coming together in Sao Paulo in 2003 through art scenes and Internet music/art sites, CSS spent the few years following the release of Cansei de Ser Sexy circumnavigating the world – playing shows with Gwen Stefani, Klaxons, Ladytron, and numerous others. Essentially, CSS had to roam the world in order to prove that they were dance-orgasmic party engine. Along with the shows, CSS got crazy mad press from every zine in the world to such heavyweight locations such as the New York Times and NME. In a true sign of hipness, CSS’s “Music is My Hot, Hot Sex” – which is not even close to the best song on the record – was used in an iPod commercial and the song proceeded to launch up the digital single charts. Quickly taking on the momentum built by all this exposure, CSS began to work on Donkey in late 2007 in Sao Paulo by band member Adriano Cintra and later mixed in LA by Mark Stent. With better experience and production, Donkey is considerably tighter and more professional sounding than Cansei de Ser Sexy without losing the raw joy. CSS have also lost bassist Iracema Trevisan, now making them a five-piece sex machine instead of six.

Before exploring the record, we should briefly talk about the liner notes and booklet. The booklet is full of photos taken by the band of the band in various locations around the world along with lyrics to all the songs so you know what the hell Lovefoxxx is saying – though her English has improved markedly. Along with the cool Donkey structure, the photos let you into the small and fascinating world of CSS. Now, onto the record………………………..

Donkey kicks off with kicking drums and bass on “Jager Yoga” with each instrument building in before the vocals fly in and take the adventure to the next level. Seriously fun times exist with such lyrics on the chorus of “We didn’t come into the world to walk around / we came here to take you out.” After that love party is the rocker “Rat is Dead (Rage),” where CSS progress on a more standard verse-chorus-verse path with the catchy chorus of “I know I know I know I know he will never hurt you again.” “Let’s Reggae All Night” drops in heavy bass and drums with an electro-take on reggae with one of my favorite lines of the record in “If you are my friend we can drink in the afternoon.” “Give Up” generally holds the fort and has Cintra adding strong backing vocals, while “Left Behind” is more electro-dance focused with more great lyrics like “I’m gonna jump onto the tables and dance my ass off till I die.” Moderately annoying “Left Behind” goes through everything twice with no real changes. Probably the most similar song to CSS’s previous album is the wordy “Beautiful Song” with Cintra and Lovefoxxx sparing verses. Both “How I Became Paranoid” and “Move” are super electro-dance pop songs that are lighter in the instrument attack. At first you think that “I Fly” is a really stupid song that goes on too long, but the moderately annoying second line on the verse soon gets embedded in your head and you keep going back to it. Polishing off Donkey are “Believe Achieve” and “Air Painter.” You are greeted with repetitive “Believe Achieve” before moving to the verse and chorus that only mildly redeems itself with the cadence and line of “I believe that love was created just for me and you/People say it’s not but I know it’s true.” “Air Painter” is simply a straight-up rocker with dance pop flying at you in everything direction.

Donkey is a solid follow-up to the phenomenal self-titled debut for Sub Pop. CSS have gotten leaner and meaner on these eleven songs with songwriting and sound quality improvement. I only wish that Donkey had as much pure excitement as their debut.