CSS opens up and rocks out with Donkey

By Beverly Bryan
Published: July 21st, 2008 | 4:10pm

Taking calls in her London apartment, CSS keyboardist and guitarist Ana de Rezende Versiani dos Anjos (Rezende dos Anjos) explains the shift in tone between Cansei de Ser Sexy, the band’s electro-happy Sub Pop debut, and Donkey, CSS’s guitar-driven second album.

When the Brazilian quintet wrote the infectious, pop culture–obsessed songs that originally got Sub Pop’s attention, they never imagined they’d play more than a few shows in and around Sao Paulo, let alone tour Europe and the United States for two years straight. Vocalist Lovefoxxx (Luísa Hanaê Matsushita), guitarist-drummer Carolina Moraes Parra, guitarist-keyboardist Luiza da Silva e Sá, bassist Iracema Trevisan (since replaced by Adriano Ferreira Cintra), and Rezende dos Anjos started playing together for fun on the weekends. Betting on obscurity was reasonable, given the state of Brazilian indie rock. “In Brazil, you don’t have labels helping you. The independent scene is not self-sufficient,” Rezende dos Anjos said.

With no such thing as underground success at home and no hope of reaching the Brazilian mainstream as long as they played dance-rock and sang in English, CSS’s only hope was the Internet. Fortunately for them, Web sites like Brazil’s TramaVirtual introduced the band to a world of fans and a record label. But all this extra-national attention meant that CSS would have to get good at playing their songs live.

“All the songs on the first album sounded much more rock when we played them live,” Rezende dos Anjos said. “So it was very natural that the album would sound more the way we sound live.” Adapting Cansei de Ser Sexy to the stage, the misfit club kids found themselves rocking out quite a bit in the process.

CSS’s sophomore release, Donkey, is full of rocking songs that include themes about anger, relationships, and touring with friends—typical stuff for most groups. But CSS built its reputation on dance beats, lyrics about Paris Hilton, and debauchery. Even the band’s name and the title of the first album are a pop allusion. Beyonce Knowles — love for Destiny’s Child unites the band’s diverse musical tastes — purportedly once said that she was “tired of being sexy.” The phrase translates to Cansei de Ser Sexy in Portuguese and became the band’s name.

CSS didn’t plan how the new album would sound anymore than it could have planned appearing with Gwen Stefani or making the Billboard Hot 100 after one of its songs was featured in a fan’s homemade iPod Touch commercial. Rezende dos Anjos said Donkey simply reflects CSS’s whirlwind live show — and personal lives — off stage. “Our lives changed a lot since the first album, and I think this album is a big reflection on that,” she said.

When the CSS adventure began, Rezende dos Anjos had just finished film school. She would spend one day of a four-day break flying home from touring and another day jetting off to the next gig. Over-touring and problems with management added to the tension. “We got really stressed out, and some of the lyrics [on the new album] were written in that time. It was natural that the lyrics got more personal,” she said.

Living the language they sing with also affected CSS’s lyrics as much as anything else. While CSS’s members spoke fluent English prior to its debut, its everyday use was infrequent. With Donkey, the band spoke English constantly. “Our relationship with the English language changed,” Rezende dos Anjos added. “We feel the weight of the language more. Before, it was more like playing with words and sounds. But now, we are more conscious of the meaning of everything.”

This new connection to English may explain arresting songs like “Rat Is Dead (Rage),” which is about a murder committed in righteous anger. The narrative unfolds in lines like, “In the other side of town a car drives fast / Hard to tell fear from happiness.”

Though the band sometimes writes lyrics in Portuguese, all songs on its Sub Pop releases are in English. There are, however, plenty of Brazilian phrases translated into English on both albums. This may explain the infectious “don’t mess my holiday” chorus of the drunken anthem “Jager Yoga,” to which Rezende dos Anjos contributed lyrics. She said most of the band members write lyrics at some point. Cintra, the only male band member, writes the melodies, and then everyone comes up with lyrical ideas.

After the flippant volley of its debut, the honest emotion expressed on “Left Behind” and the new wave–tinged “Beautiful Song” on Donkey is disarming. Listening to it is a little like catching a too-cool friend shedding tears during The Last Unicorn. Fans of CSS’s detached humor may be caught off-guard by this cathartic turn, but most will find Donkey’s 11 blithe tracks irresistible. As it turns out, sincerity looks good on CSS, and perhaps this free approach to songwriting helped ensure Donkey still kicks out surreal jams. Getting in touch with your feelings, after all, is no excuse for stopping the party.