Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS)/Bonde Do Role @ Warsaw: Brazalians Gone Wild

It was just plain ol' stupid tonight at Warsaw. Not like stupid in a lame or dumb way. It's like stupid in a "Okay, party people, it's about to get stupid in here" way. They've come from the clubs and slums of Brazil to the outskirts of Manhattan -- two acts the likes of which I've never seen before. Could Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro be the new Gothenburg or Reykjavik for new, innovative music?

Just a quick note before I get to the bands -- I didn't stick around for my Philly boy Diplo, I've seen him spin before (he wore a BangBus T-shirt, ha!), I know what he looks like. Just too tired to be sexy for Diplo. You have to give him major props for putting together these bands. Screw Timbaland, Diplo is the man.

CSS (official website NSFW, myspace page is a good place to start)... my word. They brought the house down in a complete fury of electroclash beats, fierce guitar licks and 80s disco rhythms. They're Chicks on Speed if they were party girls. They sing about getting drunk, having sex, wearing stylish clothes and star fucking famous people -- all four elements must be what Brazilians do best. They may be a few years too late to get on the electroclash bandwagon -- that cart left Williamsburg, Brooklyn and is on its way to Indiana or someplace in the mid-west.

Let's face it, they're not doing anything remotely fresh, but what makes them different is that there is sense of humor and personal ethos to have a great time making dance music. It's the same way Art Brut carries on making post-punk, pop music. "Yeah, we know what it sounds like, but let's have a good crack while we're doing it." For CSS, just look at the track listing from their debut album on Sub Pop. Do you think these gals and guy are ready for a good time?

1. CSS Suxxx      
2. Patins      
3. Alala      
4. Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above      
5. Art Bitch      
6. Fuckoff Is Not the Only Thing You Have to Show      
7. Meeting Paris Hilton      
8. Off the Hook      
9. Alcohol      
10. Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex      
11. This Month, Day 10   

Live, it was a mish-mash of pulsating, synth beats, grinding guitars and a lead singer who's part Karen O., part Peaches and part Bjork. Her stage name is Lovefoxxx and she's about to jump on you so you better brace yourself. She would strip away layers of clothes like a little girl who was tired of wearing her Sunday's best. When she wasn't doing that, she couldn't tear herself away from the crowd, dancing with everyone, surfing around and urging people to wave their arms around. Her odd stage banter made CSS all the more enduring. In her broken English, she would say "Okay, who likes alcohol? Why you like alcohol? Yeaaaaaaaahhhh. What's your name?" She would ask random questions. At one point, I thought she asked, "Who likes potpourri?" I laughed at the end where she ripped off her hair extensions out and twirled them around. The rest of the band all look like American Appeal models.

The band is opening for Ladytron for their early Fall tour, please do check them out and bring your groove, because you'll need to get it on. Unlike their first song, they do not suxxx.

They only performed for 30 minutes, but Bonde Do Role made a lasting impression. While I thought CSS were a better experience, I thought musically Bonde were more innovative. The 3-piece rap outfit from Curitiba, Brazil have the best, most fucked-up beats you'll hear this year. They take 80s heavy metal and 90s hard rock, speed it up, slow it down, loop it backwards and forwards, take snippets of well-know rap beats, lay over some fat jungle stlylings and somehow make it distinctly there own. The style is called baile funk or funk carioca and it comes from the shantytowns of Brazil. It's a seriously sexy, yet violent, hardcore beat.

They use samples from Prince, Salt 'n' Pepa, The Darkness, AC/DC and Manfred Mann to push the boundaries of the genre. On top of that, they rap in their native Portuguese while sounding like school kids playing hand clapping games.

MC Marina Ribatski is at the heart of the outfit. She acts like the world's worst cheerleader combined with the world's most drunk party girl. She didn't care how chubby or sloppy she looked in a big pair of grandma panties, she was going to get down. She used her partner, Pedro D'eyrot as her sexual dance toy, showing some stripper moves ... well, what she thinks are stripper moves. In any event, she jumped into the crowd, so I had to show her how we use to get freaky back in Flatbush Brooklyn. The other guy is DJ Gorky (which I mistook at DJ Dorky), who looks like the lost Baldwin brother.

I completely let loose with my dance moves. I haven't gotten this nifty on the floor since the Royksopp shows last year. I had to remind myself, "Pssst, Chris, but the camera away and show them what you got." I can imagine how this music plays in the club of Brazil. I wouldn't last five minutes.

If you hadn't heard or seen them before, take a listen to "Melo Do Tabaco" and have someone look at you while your doing it. Then have them explain the expression on your face. It's the craziest shit you'll hear all year.

Lot of my fellow blogger were there, all coming to see the debut from these two bands, Vegan, Heart-on-a-stick, Jerry Yeti, Wesx3, Bill of Sound Bites, Amrit and so many others. Courtesy links will be provided in the morning.

Comments

The Bonde girl doesn't look chubby or sloppy, and those aren't granny panties, unless grandma was a very glam foxy boxer.

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