CSS - Donkey
Artist: CSS
Album: Donkey
Label: Sub Pop
This is my first post since I changed up the design of this blog. I wanted something simple and light and colorful and cool, and CSS is a perfect complement to this development. I can’t think of many current bands that have CSS’s edge: polished and hip but still amateurish and silly. I think they may come under a bit of heat from the burgeoning anti-hipster crowd (who are increasingly indistinguishable from the hipster crowd, aren’t they?), but I do enjoy their songs. This album definitely satisfies my taste for simple, upbeat pop songs, and it will be a good addition to both my internet-cruising mix and my dance-party-I’ll-never-have-because-I’m-out-of-shape-and-lazy mix. Even though there aren’t any blow-your-mind singles, I nonetheless feel a more consistent songwriting base on this album, and I’m pleased to hear strong, layered guitar riffs that often remind me of Sleater-Kinney. What a nice surprise. I wouldn’t listen to the lyrics too hard, though; hear the tone, catch a word here or there, and let the rest go. This is a pop album, and you should have toe-tapping fun with it and not too much more.
CSS – Give Up
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Catchy, layered guitars, handclaps, a steady snare, and a light vocoder: If I could write fun songs for myself, I think they would sound like this.
CSS – Beautiful Song
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Similar formula as above, with even more pronounced backing vocals by the band’s drummer and founding member Adriano Cintra.
For for information on CSS, check out the band’s site or their myspace. And of course, buy the album.
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