CSS’ Creative Path Is Littered With The Corpses Of Bygone Alt-Rock Stars

noah | April 30, 2008 10:30 am
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Those of you who lived through the ’90s, when “alternative music” broke and was subsequently broken, may remember the unfortunate cycle endured by a few bands who stormed out of the gate with a strong first single: The song would be inescapable, the album would be mostly decent, and the follow-up would sound like the band in question had all of its edges shaved off by producers, executives, and self-made delusions Apparently the Brazilian glam-punk band CSS, known by many as “that band from the iPod Touch ad” but who I hold near and dear to my ears because of the still-infectious “Alala,” is now in stage three of that evolution.

The band’s new single “Rat Is Dead (Rage)” strips the band’s swagger and replaces it with a Q101-ready stomp; there’s a sparky guitar riff buried way down there, but it’s underneath so much alt-by-numbers production that finding it almost seems like a worthless cause. A note to CSS: Maybe you should try and find Bob Rock between now and June, so he can at least help you slap together a “Volcano Girls” before you ship Donkey out to stores? [CSS]

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