Donkey
Going boldly where no band has gone before, CSS showed in 2006 that you can sing songs about ’Hot Hot Sex’ and still come out the other end smelling of roses. However in 2007 it seemed the media and the fans had got caught up amidst the sparkly cat suits and on stage naughtiness and the then six-piece were becoming somewhat of an industry joke. What seemed like the only standard procedure for Brazilian-born Cansei De Ser Sexy, was to prove that the impending hangover was not one of a stroppy spotted, virginity vacant teen, but a Timpson polished, Trevor Sorbie groomed, Tommy Hilfiger styled, full power 11-track record that proves their roots run deeper than the pockets of Mr. Abramovich; who recently hired out the band to play at his daughter’s 16th birthday. Spoilt little shit.
The LP opens to the ‘dramatic’ Jager Joga, which acts as a kind of bridge between the insane lyrics of their self titled debut and the prudent, distinguished ‘Donkey’.“We didn’t come into the world, to walk around/we came here, to take you out”.I see this track also as one of those ones where a band inevitably stops playing instruments and enacts an everlasting wall of clapping noise from the audience, and despite the now 60 years of modern music on this earth, people are still falling for its simple effectiveness. What happened to the good old “DAAAAYYYEEEOOOOOOO”, maybe someone should resurrect Freddie.
Moving onwards through the album it’s hard to decipher whether the band are drawing upon the old 80s New Wave influences of their past work or are trying to spunk on minimal electro with heavy symbols and one chord guitar solos.However, I do feel that with the departure of bass player Iracema Trevisan, the freeing up of Adriano on Bass has allowed the band to become a lot more masculine. The bridges are deeper and the vocals are clearer cut, but the lairy boldness is there to stay with third track ‘Reggae All Night’, sounding like Groove Armada had a fight with Erol Alkon over the BPM speeds and The Ghost Frequency spat blood on the lead pads. Lovefoxxx as ever taking the lead and riding like the nocturnal vixen she always has been.
The programming and Synths that I’ve heard from this album are at best the basics of a Minimoog or a £25 Toys ‘R’ Us X-Mas sales bargain, but it works and that’s what is important.The lyrical structure has somewhat changed, and there isn’t so much of a place for Adriano to lay his Drug Dealer features on backing, he just kind of mumbles it out, concentrating too hard on his bass.I kind of lost my way with ‘Give Up’, half way through the first, second and third listen I just skipped the second part of the track completely and went straight to the album’s signature single ‘Left Behind’, which last month was made available for FREE DOWNLOAD by the band via their website.What surprised me about this track was that it was written by Adriano, but maybe that’s justice. Lovefoxxx sounds very comfortably singing it, but it doesn’t have the sound or feel of typical CSS, it’s much more edgy, and it sparks fuller intent to make their new points heard.
Moving into the middle of the album, ‘Beautiful Song’ doesn’t really sound that different from the fourth track and the fifth, the drumming is the same, the leads are the same, and the vocals may carry a different message, but it comes over very flat and unoriginal. Sung by Jim Carey on behalf of Germany on Eurovision, it might get 12 points from Austria, but that’s about as far as it goes I’m Afraid.
‘How I Became Afraid’ is much better, the opening sounds like a cross between the Nightrider and Miami Vice themes, you can just sense from the first beat it’s going to make you smile, even if you have no idea why. It’s probably the poppiest song of the record, and the most fun. However, I’ve got to the seventh song of this record now, and nothing jumping out and shouting at me like ‘Patins’ or ‘Alala’ off of the debut.At this moment I’m starting to think that Adriano should have stayed on drums; the rhythm of the album is all over the place and it bears no conventions of a journey through 11 tracks, almost as if they’ve been chucked together, carefully but utterly pointlessly.If you’ve ever tried to play Operation with RSI then you’ll understand where I’m coming from: IT JUST DOESN’T WORK! On the other hand, I have to give them Kudos for naming an album Donkey, it doesn’t sound fetching at the best of times, but I bet it’s something funny to tell people when you’re drunk. “Yeah I wrote an album called Donkey... Eeeoreee”Despite this sudden barrage of criticism, ‘Move’ is one that is growing on me, Late of the Pier could easily fuck with this song and turn it into a dancefloor destroyer, but it’s much better left alone with is summery kicks and cheesy lyrics.“You better get your move on/all the good boys, will have gone”Lovefoxxx is clearly already missing the mishaps and filth of their previous work. Art Bitch will always be one of 2006’s disgusting examples of innocent pop, but I wouldn’t have had it either way.
I think the sheer disappointment can always be summarised in an album, when the last two tracks make you smile more than the first, giving you a false impression that the whole piece was brilliant.The penultimate song believe achieve is priceless, full of minimal electronica goodness and catchy bass lines is an improvement, but prominent fakery and the horniness of Lovefoxxx will always be welcome in this world.Closing off the album is surprisingly a very tasty evening supplement with ‘Air Painter’, maybe it’s an insight into the band’s direction for the third outing, if it gets here. Lovefoxxx still appears to be as full of life as ever, and although she’s produced a much more cautious record the second time round. However, with all the difficulties with the departure of Iracema and the bands manager, you can’t help but think this could be the last. I really hope not, as I’m a huge fan of their work and their live shows are possibly the closest thing to viewing porn in public for a small fee I’ve come across in this country. What... it’s true.
The band are embarking on a small UK Tour in October to play out the album in smaller venues than previously, although it won’t be soon before they return to the heights of Wembley Arena they managed last time around.
5/10
