CSS: Donkey

CSS
Donkey
Sub Pop Records [2008]







Fire Note Says: No slump here!

Album Review:
Everyone that creates, listens, reviews or produces music knows that they don’t call it the sophomore slump for no reason and the pressure for Brazil’s CSS is no different on their second release Donkey for Sub Pop. To avoid the slump, CSS approached album number two smartly – give the people what they want and know. Donkey was created with the idea to recreate on record a typical live CSS show, which is always a mix of high energy, dance party, 100% effort and a little bit of a chance that it gets out of control! With an electro-rock band like CSS the risk is always overproducing the songs to the point of sounding too polished, which in their case I think it helped that Donkey was produced in Brazil by the band’s own Adriano Cintra and mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent (Bjork, Massive Attack, U2, M.I.A., Arcade Fire). This combo found the right amount of balance to put a record out that sounds clean but not overdone, rough but yet soft and punches while helping you back up. Tracks like “Jager Yoga”, “Left Behind” and “Rat Is Dead (Rage)” are increasingly catchy with each spin because of Lovefoxxx’s commanding vocals and the grinding guitar riffs that take the record to the next level throughout. CSS are not offering anything relatively new on Donkey but you can’t find a band right now pushing out these electro rock jams and doing it much better, so fans of their debut will be delighted while the catchiness of the new songs should easily find them some new ones!

Key Tracks: "Left Behind", "Jager Yoga", "I Fly"

Bands With Similar Fire:
Le Tigre
Elastica
Ladytron

CSS: Cansei De Ser Sexy [Fire Note Review 12/12/06]

Official CSS Website
CSS MySpace
CSS Info [Allmusic]
Sub Pop Records

-Reviewed by Reece Michael