CSS (Cansei De Ser Sexy)

São Paulo, Brazil's provocative, freewheeling dance-rock sextet CSS takes its name from an abbreviation of "cansei de ser sexy," which is Portuguese for "tired of being sexy" (though, considering that the lead singer goes by the name Lovefoxxx, it's arguable how much that phrase actually applies to the band). CSS also includes bassist Iracema Trevisan, guitarist/drummer/keyboardist Luiza Sá, guitarist Ana Rezende, guitarist/drummer Carolina Parra, and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/producer Adriano Cintra (also a member of Thee Butchers' Orchestra).

The band formed in 2003, after meeting at clubs and through Internet social-networking groups such as Fotolog and Trama Virtual, and began crafting their unique but unpretentious sound through trial and error. CSS' net-savvy ways led to the group becoming a phenomenon on the Web; their extensively downloaded songs eventually caught the attention of more traditional media in Brazil and Europe. The band released two EPs on their own in 2004, Em Rotterdam Ja e uma Febre and A Onda Mortal/Uma Tarde com PJ, before signing to Trama Virtual in 2005. That fall, their debut album, Cansei de Ser Sexy, was released in Brazil, along with a bonus EP, CSS SUXXX. The members of CSS also used their other talents to forge the band's distinctive image: Lovefoxxx and Parra are graphic designers, Trevisan is a fashion designer, Rezende is a film student (and directed the video for the song "Off the Hook"), while Sá attends art school. Early in 2006, Sub Pop signed the band and the label released Cansei de Ser Sexy in North America that summer. Shortly after the album's release, CSS did a string of dates in Canada and the U.S. with Diplo and Bonde do Role.