Album Review: CSS - Planta

A troupe of rainbow flag-championing Brazilian riot-grrls was meant to be the most winning of winning combinations. They've come close several times over three albums, but never quite followed through. Like a gaggle of immature club kids, it was only a matter of time before primary songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adriano Cintra left amidst a torrid slew of barbs. That they couldn't play their instruments is one accusation that – on the evidence of Planta – might be well-founded.

For a band whose very sound is grounded in festiva and rebellion, Planta is painfully bland and limp. Before, Cintra used to twiddle the knobs wrangling some sense out of the often unfocussed revelry of his honorary clique, occasionally striking gold (with Let's Make Love... and Hits Me Like A Rock). Now he's gone, it's down to TV On The Radio's eternally cool David Sitek to produce. It's a mismatch of a massive scale. Sitek is serious and forward-thinking, whereas CSS like to think themselves chaotic and party-tastic. Thus, Planta is less anarchic, more anachronistic, barely delivering the antipathy of someone being charged ten cents for a plastic bag at a checkout. The inconsistent playing echoes '80s punks Fuzzbox, who in their early career were open about their own musical ineptitude before conceding that learning to play might actually be more fun for everyone. The only interesting effort is the fabulously named, simply executed Frankie Goes To North Hollywood which tellingly should be credited to 'David Sitek ft Lovefoxxx'.

Should CSS's next release be an obituaristic 'Best Of', nothing from Planta deserves inclusion. One must ask when they'll become tired of being unremarkable.