Audio Mixers: Adriano Cintra; Carolina Parra.

Recording information: Estudio Submarino, Sao Paolo (03/2005-06/2005); Jagermeister, Bitte A.K.A. Adriano & Carol's House (03/2005-06/2005).

Brazil's Cansei De Ser Sexi (the name translates from the Portuguese as "Tired of Being Sexy") sounds like Kraftwerk, the Sex Pistols, and the Go-Gos tossed with house music and mixed in a post-punk blender. With Sub Pop releasing the band's self-titled debut, CSS has already garnered plenty of indie rock cred, but it's the band's postmodern take on poppy, amped-up dance music--complete with surging beats, oozing synth lines, and sing-song call-and-response vocals--that will win over listeners. Titles like "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above," "Meeting Paris Hilton," and "Music is My Hot, Hot Sex" offer a cheekiness that adds to the album's charm.

You've gotta love the way Brazilian art rock/dance-pop act CSS kicks off their 2006 release Cansei de Ser Sexy -- which is Portuguese for "Tired of Being Sexy" -- with a rousing chant of "CSS sucks!" That self-effacing quality walks the line between high-art irony and unabashed silliness -- slyly setting the tone for a sensual and quirky album. The song "Artbitch" finds singer Lovefoxxx cattily shouting that she's an artist who only shows her work where there's free alcohol, and the track "Meeting Paris Hilton" either recounts a startling encounter with the bony socialite or makes a clever and entertaining lyrical desensitization of the word bitch -- or maybe both. The whole disc has you chuckling and scratching your head over the words, while the electronic rhythms and meticulously layered crunchy guitars send you straight onto the dancefloor. The record is very reminiscent of the Sounds' 2006 release Dying to Say This to You, because of the sassy, provocative vocals as well as the overall mood. CSS' heart and soul are rooted in a sense of fun danceability, exemplified in the track "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex," an anthem rivaling anything recorded by darling-of-the-DJ, reigning club queen Annie (or even her much more mainstream equivalent, Kylie Minogue). It inspires a basic and guttural sense of movement that can manifest itself with anything from a rump-shaking booty bounce to Natalie Imbruglia's flopsy-mopsy dance at the end of the "Torn" video. ~ Cammila Albertson