CSS (band)

:Not to be confused with CCS, a British musical group.

Name	CSS
Landscape	yes
Background	group_or_band
Origin	São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Genre	Indie rock, new wave, electronic rock, electroclash, new rave
Years active	2003–present
Label	Sub Pop
Url	Official website
Current members	LovefoxxxAdriano CintraLuiza SáAna RezendeCarolina Parra
Past members	Maria Helena ZerbaIracema TrevisanClara Ribeiro

CSS is a Brazilian rock band from São Paulo. The band was labeled as part of the explosion of the New Rave scene. Their songs are in both English and Portuguese. CSS is an abbreviation for Cansei de Ser Sexy (), literally "got tired of being sexy" in Portuguese.

History

Formation and Cansei de Ser Sexy (Brazilian album): 2003–2006

CSS formed in September 2003, consisting of a group of friends. Their name was taken from a reported quote by Beyoncé, who allegedly declared that she was "tired of being sexy".

The band first garnered fame through the Internet. Some of its members, like Adriano Cintra, had been previously known in São Paulo's underground club scene, but not outside of the local alternative subculture. Others, like Lovefoxxx, were owners of popular Fotolog and Flickr pages. Their collective band fotolog also gained popularity and their songs were frequently downloaded from Trama Virtual's website (a Brazilian website loosely similar to MySpace Music). Several songs by CSS were featured in mainstream media: "Meeting Paris Hilton" was featured in the Latin American broadcasting of The Simple Life, "Superafim" was used in the Brazilian version of the Big Brother, etc. Still without a record deal, they released two independent EPs – Em Rotterdam Já É uma Febre in 2004 and A Onda Mortal / Uma Tarde com PJ in January 2005 – and played at TIM Festival in 2004.

In 2005, they signed with the Trama Virtual label, and in October their first album, Cansei de Ser Sexy, was released in Brazil, along with an 7-track EP CSS Suxxx, that was sold at concerts. A limited edition version of the album had a blank CD-R included, so the buyer could burn a copy of the album onto the CD-R to give away as a gift.

They played at various festivals across Europe in the summer of 2007. The band were also scheduled to play at the American festival Lollapalooza on 4 August 2007 but were left stranded at LaGuardia Airport en route to the American city of Chicago after an overbooking error by United Airlines. They did arrive in time for their performance at Virgin Festival in Baltimore the next day.

CSS caught an unlikely break when their song "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" was used in a worldwide television commercial by Apple Inc. for the iPod. Due to the song's exposure in the United States, it charted at #63 on the country's Billboard Hot 100, becoming the highest charting single in the United States by a Brazilian band to date. Coincidentally, the same song had been used in a promotion for the competing Zune media player a year prior.

Several of CSS's songs feature on the soundtracks of video games. Their singles "Alala" and "Off the Hook" have been featured in the video game Forza Motorsport 2. The video game FIFA 08 also features "Off the Hook" Their song "Jager Yoga" features in the soundtrack of video game FIFA 09. and "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" appears in the video game .

In April 2008, Iracema Trevisan left the band; Adriano Cintra replaced her on bass guitar. The band is currently working with a session drummer, Jon Harper of The Cooper Temple Clause.

Donkey: 2008–2010

"Rat Is Dead (Rage)", the first single to be taken from their second album was made available as a free download from the CSS website in April 2008. The band's second album Donkey, was released on 21 July 2008 with first single proper, "Left Behind", preceding it earlier in the month.

La Liberación: 2010–present

CSS have been recording tracks for their third studio album while touring. They reportedly recorded a song in Spanish, titled "¡Ay, Qué Horror!".

According to the lead singer Lovefoxxx, in an interview with MTV Brazil, the first single of the new album will be released in May. The album, also according to her, will hit store shelves August 2011, with 11 tracks. The title will also be in Spanish.

In a recent interview with Folha de S. Paulo, Adriano Cintra said that the band's third album "is not a themed album. It has influences from clubs, reggae and punk". Ana Rezende, however, said that "we sometimes do a reggae that nobody thinks it's actually reggae. But in our head is very reggae".

Discography

Albums

Cansei de Ser Sexy (Brazilian edition) (2005, Trama)

Cansei de Ser Sexy (International edition) (2006, Sub Pop/Warner) #69 UK

Donkey (July 21, 2008, Sub Pop/Warner/Trama) #32 UK, #189 U.S.

La Liberacíon (August 29, 2011)

EPs

Em Rotterdam Já É uma Febre (2004, independent)

A Onda Mortal / Uma Tarde com PJ (2005, independent)

CSS Suxxx (2005, Trama)

Singles

{|class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2"|Year ! rowspan="2"|Song ! colspan="7"|Chart positions ! rowspan="2"|Album |- !width="30"| BRA Hot 100 !width="30"| BRA Hit Parade !width="30"| UK !width="30"| IRE !width="30"| CAN !width="30"| U.S. !width="30"| FIN |- ||2005 | "Bezzi" | 65 | 59 | – | – | – | – | – | rowspan="8"|Cansei de Ser Sexy |- | rowspan="4"|2006 | "Superafim" | 55 | 46 | – | – | – | – | – |- | "Acho um Pouco Bom" | 97 | 88 | – | – | – | – | – |- | "Alala" | 66 | 59 | 89 | 51 | – | – | – |- | "Off the Hook" | – | – | 43 | – | – | – | – |- | rowspan="3"|2007 | "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" | – | – | 32 | 37 | – | – | – |- | "Alcohol" | 75 | 60 | – | – | – | – | – |- | "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" | 98 | 81 | – | – | 12 | 63 | – |- | rowspan="3"|2008 | "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | rowspan="3"|Donkey |- | "Left Behind" | – | – | 78 | – | – | – | 18 |- | "Move" | – | – | – | 69 | 75 | – | – |}

Remixes

Tiny Masters of Today – "Hey Mr. DJ" (2007)

Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya – "Fuck Friend" (2007)

Lily Allen – "Alfie" (2007)

The Wombats – "Kill the Director" (2007)

The Mules – "We're Good People" (2007)

The Little Ones – "Lovers Who Uncover" (2007)

Bonde Do Role – "Office Boy" (2007)

The Cribs – "Men's Needs" (2007)

Loney, Dear – "The City, the Airport" (2007)

Asobi Seksu – "Strawberries" (2007)

Kylie Minogue – "Wow" (2008)

Tetine – "I Go to the Doctor!" (2008)

The B-52's – "Funplex" (2008)

Digitalism – "Pogo" (2008)

Bloc Party – "Mercury" (2008)

Lykke Li – "Little Bit" (2008)

Keane – "The Lovers Are Losing" (2008)

Sia – "Buttons" (2008)

Tilly and the Wall – "The Freest Man" (?)

Blondie – "One Way or Another" (2005)

The Breeders – "Cannonball" (2008)

L7 – "Pretend We're Dead" (?)

Fever Ray – "Seven" (2009)

Contributions

Grizzly Bear – Knife (2007)

References

Review at www.metacritic.com

Review at www.cloudspeakers.com

External links

Cansei de Ser Sexy official website

Cansei de Ser Sexy on Flickr

Interviews and live reviews

CSS' Luiza Sa: The New Gay Interview

Adriano Cintra talks about Donkey, gay karaoke & The Beatles

CSS @ Gold Coast VFestival video feature – virgin.com/music, April 2008

CSS first UK cover feature – Plan B Magazine, October 2006

The Guardian, "Brazil nuts!"

Interview with CSS on www.krugermagazine.com, 21 January 2007

BBC 6 Music Hub Session">Live performance on BBC 6 Music Hub Session – 27 February 2007

Live performance on BBC 6 Music Hub Session – 17 July 2008

The Times, "I predict a riot"

The Times, "Brazil Nutters"

The Independent, "CSS: Too sexy for São Paulo", published 13 April 2007, retrieved 12 June 2007.

The Telegraph, Donkey Review

Category:2000s music groups Category:Brazilian indie rock groups Category:Electro rock Category:Sub Pop artists Category:Musical groups established in 2003 Category:New Wave groups