July 18th, 2008 12:47pm
Kiss You In The Photo Booth
CSS “Believe/Achieve” – In retrospect, I suppose a lot of people were justified in assuming the worst of CSS when they arrived in America a few years ago. There was already a glut of hedonistic hipster-centric dance-rock bands, and we hardly needed another one, much less a band with songs that name-checked the likes of Paris Hilton and Death From Above 1979. CSS were exactly what they appeared to be, but they happened to have two major advantages over their peers: Their songs were well-crafted and relatively diverse, and they had a frontwoman called Lovefoxxx (!!!) who was capable of investing lyrics about crushes and hipster culture with soul and humanity.
Whereas most other hipster-identified artists either embrace a repulsive vacuousness or indulge in self-deprecation, Lovefoxxx sounded like a young woman who was exceedingly thrilled to be a part of a subculture, and found music, art, and unapologetic fun to be an unambiguous salvation. Maybe it was because she and her band were from a place geographically removed from the major hipster hotspots, but her lyrics were refreshingly devoid of the sort of cynicism and defensiveness that plagues most lyrics about hipsters in this decade.
The problem with CSS’ second album Donkey is that Lovefoxxx’s lyrical contributions have been diminished greatly. A majority of the lyrics are written by The Dude In The Band, and he’s also responsible for writing virtually all of the music. As a result, much of the record sounds like a dumbed-down version of their debut. On the surface, the aesthetic is more or less the same, but beyond that surface, there’s not much else. There are hooks and grooves, but they only occasionally connect emotionally or physically. The lyrics are mostly quite generic, and they’ve abandoned their fascination with international art culture in favor of a bland, uncomplicated “hey, let’s party!” sentiment. It’s kinda heartbreaking for me, honestly. I love that first record, and put so much energy into defending it, and they’ve gone and made a follow-up that seems to prove their detractors right.
Donkey isn’t a total wash-out. There are no outright failures, and there’s at least some pleasure to found in all the cuts. A few of the songs measure up to tracks from their debut: “Rat Is Dead (Rage)” is a terrific upbeat alt-rock number that could’ve been a huge radio hit if it had come out in 1995, and “Beautiful Song” and “Left Behind” both have solid charm. “Believe/Achieve” is undoubtedly the best track, and the one that best carries over the brilliance of their first record. In the song, Lovefoxxx writes from the perspective of someone whose love has grown so obsessive that they are overcome with a desire to consume everything that they consume — food, books, music — in order to better understand them, and to become more like them. You know how people who engage in cannibalism claim that it’s a spiritual thing, and that when they devour a person, they gain a portion of their soul? “Believe/Achieve” is like that, but a lot less creepy. There’s an undeniable intensity to the words, but I think the song is essentially quite sweet and well-meaning. She’s not a threat to anyone or herself, just a person who is so in love that she can’t stop herself from needing to know everything about her partner, and is aware that she’s kinda lost it, but doesn’t really care. (Click here to buy it from Sub Pop.)
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