Cansei de Ser Sexy famously took their name from a Beyoncé interview in which the world's favorite diva declared that she was "tired of being sexy." The Brazilian band have consistently used cool, yelpy electro-punk to take a stand against something or other; shouting out rebuttals to female stereotypes while being coy about it, too. With Planta, they lose their only male member, Adriano Cintra. Unfortunately, that means losing part of CSS' appeal along with him.
Last year, in a ranty, long-winded blogpost, Cintra at least explained why he had to quit, citing artistic priorities, fame-stunting, shady managers, money-swindling, and calling out his bandmates for pretending they were friends when they were anything but. Which really strikes a blow when dealing with a group who are trying to sell we-don’t-give-a-fuck club kid romps. Planta suffers from the same one-trick sameness that plagued Donkey and La Liberación, two albums that went relatively unnoticed considering their hit debut. Here “Hangover” comes closest to the image that CSS has projected; a song co-written by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong that sweetly declares “I’ve never had a hangover til you,” over a slowly plodding and sunny reggaeton beat. Front-woman Lovefoxxx adopts a drawl that feels hat-tipped to the M.I.A. that was dating Diplo when he brought CSS to the U.S. spotlight way back in 2006.
It's worth noting that TV on the Radio’s David Sitek stepped in to executive produce Planta. His flair is something you hear on “Honey”, an open love-letter that burns along to flying, cinematic synth melodies worthy of Santigold or TVOTR-- morse-code blurts of bass, and vintage roller-rink strobe lights. Instrumentally it’s an electro pop stan’s dream, gloriously cheesy in all the right places. “Sweet” and “Teenage Tiger Cat” fare similarly; expansive cinematics with casually provocative snares that break into relentless bass and bop-along electric guitar. The problem with both tracks, however, remains the total lack of vocal prowess. Sure there are growls on “Teenage Tiger Cat”, but what’s meant to sound like ‘tude or luring temptation mostly comes off as a starlet attempting to seduce a fan who has forgotten she exists.
Sentimental ballads show up frequently on Planta, earnestly declaring love and unearthing secret admiration. “Faith In Love” is the least trying because it’s different, a drone of organs and haze-clearing tambourine fades the album out. But its sleepiness is where we’re continuously lost; the singer’s vocals get swallowed by her surroundings, making something that could have been heart-tugging and lovelorn into a song that sounds bored with itself. “Dynamite”-- the best track on the album next to “Hangover”-- shows some signs of life, though, as we’re sucked into a destructive mosh-pit while Foxxx eggs us on (“Burn baby, burn”) to get high on the night and all the things we like. And that's exactly what we want from CSS; for them to shout at us and demand that we seize the day. Unfortunately, on Planta, they only seem half-awake.
