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- The Guardian, Friday 18 July 2008
It looks like a party on stage: there are balloons everywhere, the cavorting Lovefoxxx's colourful jumpsuit is virtually covered by the tinselly boa wrapped around her neck and body, while the bassist, drummer, three female guitarists and two dancing girls all jostle for position. For all their protestations, Brazil's CSS seem more than ever like a frontwoman with backing musicians - a bit like the Sugarcubes before Björk broke free. In fact, with her cute rasp, idiosyncratic garb and Princess Leia hair, Lovefoxxx cuts a Björk-ish figure.
The crowd seem to miss the CSS of old, when they were part favela ingenues, part art-house in-joke we could all share. Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above, and Alala get the best reaction, with their combination of juddering electro and Popbitch-type lyrics. There are no references to Paris Hilton on the newer songs, with titles such as Left Behind proposing less waspish worldview. Musically, although they might imagine they are some fabulous Strokes/Shangri-Las rock hybrid, far too often CSS just sound like the Go-Gos. Even when they hit default mode on Move - quirky electropop with sardonically sassy vocals - you can't help feeling the Ting Tings are doing this sort of thing better. CSS: they are so 2006.
The show ends after 40 minutes, the shortest in living memory, and despite three encores, the abiding impression is of a band suffering from typical second album syndrome - wondering how they got here and where they are going next. As parties go, it was a bit flat.
· At Reading festival on August 24. Details: readingfestival.com
