CD Review

Many years ago I attended summer camp. My counselor at the time found it amusing to wake us up with the most obscene music he could play. He would’ve had a field day with the virgin Sub Pop release from CSS.

CSS performs a smattering of electro-Brazilian pop rock that you’ll either heave out the window or scream raunchy profanities at your neighbors while it cranks from your speakers. Menudo had nothing on these five Portuguese girls and a guy - who subsequently pulled the Cansei De Ser Sexy name from a Beyonce saying for being tired of, well, being sexy.

What’s most desirable here is the huge flip-off towards American pop culture- digging on everything from Paris Hilton to the snobby art world. Beneath the lyrical jabs, “Fuck Off is Not The Only You Have to Show” and “Music is my Hot Hot Sex” are power-pop beats, destined for the underground club scene, sure to get waif-like girls plucked out of an American Apparel ad dancing haphazardly to the stank that are these songs. In fact, the album reeks so much that after a listen, it’s scent will linger in your nostrils for days to come. It’s fun, but it comes off as bad as a first time experience in a cramped back seat of your parent’s car.