September 15, 2006

CSS: Stealth, Nottingham; Saturday, September 2

Brazilian electro-funkers come to England and leave NME breathless

Photo Gallery: CSS

Whether you happen to be from the wildest parts of São Paulo, the meanest streets of the East Midlands or just a small cul-de-sac outside Barnsley, Saturday night is unquestionably the time to get your groove on. This is something that slinky Brazilian electro-poppers CSS understand more than most – frontwoman Lovefoxxx is so excited about her band’s first-ever European show that she’s already dancing like a hyperactive art-pixie while her colleagues are tuning-up their guitars. Straining at the leash doesn’t even come close, then, but Lovefoxxx is certainly not the only one. Every single person packed into the room has been worked up into a hormonal frenzy by the Brazilian outfit’s debut album and, before the music has even started, it’s clear that this is going to be one big, throbbing orgasm of a gig.

Exhibiting all the energy of a pilled-up Go! Team, CSS probably wouldn’t stop moving if there were landmines strategically placed all over the stage, and when it comes to tunes the concept of a ballad appears totally alien. Seemingly the product of some kind of secret South American love tryst between Yeah Yeah Yeahs and New Order, ‘Alala’ provides the first climax of the night, when the diminutive singer ends up in the moshpit, virtually humping the front row as she goes. From there on in, it’s non-stop chaos and Lovefoxxx is at the centre of it all – whether she’s proudly displaying her hairy armpits (and then wiping them with a punter’s jacket), coming up with suave freestyle raps between songs or merely demanding that someone “lick, lick, lick my art-tit” during a delightfully filthy ‘Art Bitch’. To finish off this hot, sweaty love-in, the irresistible grooves of ‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’ bring a final wave of satisfaction all round, but before anyone in the room has the chance to spark up a post-coital cigarette at the end of the song, Lovefoxxx grabs hold of the mic and purrs, “Are you ready to make love?” Again? Damn, woman! Are you trying to kill us all? CSS are insatiable.

Hardeep Phull

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