CSS are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Founded in 2003 in São Paulo as Cansei de Ser Sexy (“tired of being sexy”) they
have always been lo-fi, sunny, quirky. Above all, however, CSS have always seemed
ephemeral. Their fun-loving, slacker approach to things has always given the
impression that they would inevitably fall apart, leaving behind a few hummable
songs and memories of some blissful, chaotic concerts. The band have always had
dissolution in their DNA.
Yet CSS have survived – they’re still here, ten years on,
giggling, gigging and about to release their fourth album, Planta.
Against the odds and against all expectations, they survived
their biggest crisis when songwriter and instrumentalist Adriano Cintra left
the band in 2011 amidst a world tour. I was due to see them a few weeks later
at the Heaven nightclub in London, and was horrified by the news. In the days
leading up to the gig, I nervously awaited word that they had split up. I
wouldn't have blamed them, and fully expected to be asking Heaven for a refund.
However, the day arrived with no news, and I turned up to find the club full to
the rafters and buzzing with anticipation. Having recently bought the lyrical, shambolic
album La Liberación, I was buzzing too. But, how could they possibly perform
without Adriano? How good could they be?
The answer came bounding on stage with a frizzy wig and
leather jacket. Heaven exploded, and responded immediately with echoes of
“calling, calling” to the opening number. Lovefoxxx had hit the stage.
Simply put, Lovefoxxx is one of the great contemporary
performers. Her very presence is enough
to start a party, and that’s partly what makes CSS events so exciting and
intoxicating – they are not gigs in the traditional sense, but carnivals, celebrations.
That night, the wig and leather jacket came off quickly to
reveal a red haired, hot panted Luísa Matsuchita leading the singing of “Short
shorts, short skirts / Flower tops, denim shirts / In the big city, nothing
hurts, nothing hurts”. And you know what . . . nothing did that night, as she
threw herself into the crowd, and Luiza Sá, Carolina Parra and Ana Rezende kept
the beats and melodies flowing - everybody danced.
Nothing hurt . . until the next morning that is, when my
head certainly did. Before going to bed, I had tweeted about what a storming gig
the girls had put on. Turning on my IPad, I saw that they had actually replied
to me. CSS are like that.
A year past. A year listening to the albums, and following Lovefoxxx’s
various DJ stints and collaborations, such as with Steve Aoki on the catchy and
strangely moving Heartbreaker. Actually the song was so catchy that it stuck in my head for a week, and I had to hum
Beethoven’s 8th loudly to muffle it out.
Again the expectation, the conviction, that what seemed
ephemeral, actually was. OK, so the girls had managed to pull off the gig of
the year without Adriano . . . but what about the songs, perfectly pitched for
the four intoxicating muses? Could they write their own material? With
Lovefoxxx herself being a one-woman brand for cool, and getting all the work
she needed, why would she bother? Would Luiza, Carol and Ana form another band?
As the year rolled on, the CSS tweets and Facebook entries
became fewer and fewer. They did a series of entertaining, chaotic, radio shows
in LA. At least they still enjoyed each other’s company, but the expectation
was that they would fade into the Californian sunshine.
Then out of the blue, and totally unexpectedly, guitarist Luiza
Sá posted that they were doing a fourth album.
The tweets and Facebook entries started up again, along with pics of the
girls in residence at an LA house, swimming, smiling, partying. A UK date
popped up, with perhaps the most appropriate sounding announcement of all time,
“CSS at All Tomorrow’s Parties, Camber Sands, Sussex”. It was like a keyword distillation of the band:
CSS
Parties.
Sands.
Sex.
Then came news of the London gig on Hoxton Square. I hurriedly
bought a ticket, and put it on the mantelpiece.
I counted down the days, then a chilly Monday 13th
May 2013 arrived. I met a couple of friends for drinks and trouped over to the
Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen for a few more, before joining the expectant
sell-out crowd.
Ana, Luiza and Carol came bouncing on with a male drummer,
and Lovefoxxx followed, strangely subdued, and complaining of being cold (she
was right to). This incarnation of Lovefoxxx had a painted face, long, long,
black hair, and she was wearing a substantial and rather stiff cloak. Very Dada
- Lovefoxxx as Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.
And the band did their thing, effusively, infectiously. The
musicians, Ana, Carol and Luiza seemed to be having the time of their life up
there – laughing, pointing, acting up . . and man, they were good. Often
overlooked is that CSS are a very tight, hard hitting band. Luiza Sá struts and
preens self-mockingly like a young Keith Richards. Carolina Parra keeps it all
together, surveying the others knowingly. And then there is Ana Rezende –
keyboard maestro, and heart of the band. The three slide and dance, carve out
rhythms and hooks, weaving their unique, euphoric magic.
Shortly into the gig, the stangely subdued Lovefoxxx
suddenly raised her hands; the levers in her stiff cloak clicked in, and she
became a huge butterfly. Lovefoxxx reborn! After a couple of minutes as this
startling, rhythmic insect, she dispensed with the contraption, and became the
centre of the party she always is. The rest of the gig was an uplifting melange
of old and new, with a thunderous duet at the end, with the girls yelling “I
seen you drunk girl, but you ain’t drunk yet.”
I, however, was indeed drunk, and drifted off into the night
with my ears ringing.
I forgot to mention that in the run up to this gig, Kevin
Perry, Deputy Editor of the NME, had tweeted asking whether any CSS fans would
like to see their session at the NME offices. Err . . yes, I replied. Yes, please.
So on the following Wednesday morning I turned up to the NME
offices in a cab, only to see the girls in shades passing from their car into
the building – the Rolling Stones at their coolest did not look as cool as
this. After a long wait downstairs, fifteen young fans and myself – a rather
old fan – were ushered up to the huge offices on the 9th floor. At
the end of the corridor sat the girls, with a couple of friends and a bearded
bongo drummer.
Lovefoxxx opened her arms beatifically: “Thank you so, much
for coming!!” she smiled, with genuine warmth, as the young fans sat cross-legged
in front of her like disciples around the Buddha. Luiza Sá started to strum,
the bongo drummer kicked in and Lovefoxxx began to sing their latest, and
self-penned, number, “Hangover”. It was rather like sitting around a camp-fire
on a beach in Brazil. With a bit of banter and chat in between, the band did
another three or four songs, and that was it. Morning had broken.
I left the NME offices glad that I had gone and seen a new
side to the band. CSS, acoustic? Who would have thought that would work? It
started to rain; and as I crossed the Thames, I smiled as I thought about these
bright, funky Brazilian women. When they play together something happens,
something rare. Luiza, Luisa, Carolina and Ana make the world more fun, less
predictable, more human. CSS are four girls against the world - and they are
winning.
Will I ever see them again? I really don’t know – they are
ephemeral, after all.
But I hope so.