Donkey

Ambitious indie-rockers Cansei De Ser Sexy

The Sao Paolo collective with the ambitious title Cansei De Ser Sexy, translated in English as Tired Of Being Sexy, rushed into the British scene with the self-titled album as a meteor in 2006. The jolly rockers did so many crazy things on their disc - they verbally attacked Paris Hilton, made the listeners outrageous about their rough words and sexual lyrics, while the vocals of soloist Lovefoxxx, who is constantly put into colorful cat suits on concerts, differs from all one could ever hear. Since that period, the band saw important metamorphosis - firstly, bassist Iracema Trevisan left Cansei De Ser Sexy and was substituted by British musician John Harper. Later, the band had an unpleasant parting with their manager, who was the boyfriend of Trevisan beside all. Member of Cansei De Ser Sexy and author of the majority of their material Adriano Cintra became the new manager for the band. After the almost two-year-long tour around the United Kingdom, the musicians decided to record their second album finally called Donkey. Released in July 2006, it immediately got many negative overviews from the critics. However, only a few were furious enough to call it an inferior attempt or a failure. The reason for this was the instant style change from Cansei De Ser Sexy.

Thoughtful lyrics and professional sound

The new album Donkey showed the Brazilian indie-rockers in an unexpected image - the sound of the disc became more polished and professional. The same time, the texts by De Ser Sexy from short and excited shrieks progressed into the ironical, full of metaphors verses. Thus, the fierce garage rock single Rat Is Dead (Rage) became the colorful revelation about abuse in the family, which was hard to expect from these fun-lovers on their previous attempt. The guitar riff reminds of the Pixies creativity at the time of their climax. The album opener pop rock track Jager Yoga will cheer with its catchy tune and astonishing vocals by Lovefoxxx, combined to the electronic sound of 80s. Let's Reggae All Night is no way a real reggae - it is a swirling disco tune with the synthesized sound and hooking bass. It is followed by the dance indie composition Give Up and one of the best songs on Donkey, Left Behind. The extremely elegant Left Behind has the unforgettable melody of a must-be radio hit. Believe Achieve with the pleasant pop tune and Brazilian flavor tells about a love affair with the expressiveness and unexpectedness that are loved by Cansei De Ser Sexy fans so much. The album closer is the interesting remix for one of the most fascinating songs on Donkey as it was said, Left Behind (Midnight Juggernauts Remix).

Donkey: a rather ambiguous album

The sophomore attempt is always a trial for the collective of a solo artist. Is the band or a singer the star of one album or not? Can the artist do more? Will the performer be able to eliminate the drawbacks of the debut and grow up in creative way? These and many other questions get their solution only when the second disc is released. Donkey is no way a flop, but on the surface of the mighty debut Cansei De Ser Sexy even such a good disc seems to be a little pale. The thing is that the musicians decided to add more professionalism to their sound, but with the raw, primitive indie-sounding, they lost a great part of the energy and jolliness, characteristic for Cansei De Ser Sexy. However, the melodies for the Donkey long-play are beautiful; some of them are the potential hits. The more polished sound gave the artists the opportunity to penetrate the mainstream radio stations and thus enlarge their army of fans, while the thoughtful texts will make the listeners ponder over their sense. Besides, the change of the sound indicates that Cansei De Ser Sexy do not stay on one place - they experiment and try themselves in different styles. Overall, Donkey is a definite step forward for the indie-rockers, even if it was not the one expected by the public.