Cansei de Ser Sexy

CSS' History

CSS formed in September 2003, consisting of a group of friends. Their name was taken from a reported quote by Beyoncé, who allegedly declared that she was "tired of being sexy".

The band first became known through the internet. Their fotolog gained popularity and their songs were frequently downloaded from Trama Virtual's website (a Brazilian website similar to MySpace Music). After this overnight sensation, Trama Virtual invested heavily in the band, inviting a series of Brazilian and British journalists to report on them. Articles were printed in several Brazilian magazines and even British newspapers such as The Guardian, whose reporter was invited to see the band playing just before their signing for the debut, at a club in São Paulo. He predicted that they "could be the biggest band ever to come out of South America". Songs by CSS found their way into the Latin American broadcasting of The Simple Life (with the song "Meeting Paris Hilton"), the Brazilian Big Brother reality show (with the song "Superafim") and the South American version of the game The Sims 2: Nightlife ("Computer Heat", including a version in Simlish). Still without a record deal, they released two independent EPs in 2004, and played that year at TIM Festival, on the same night and at the same stage as Soulwax and Kraftwerk.

In 2005 they signed with the Trama Virtual label (the first, and to this day the second only band to), and in October their first album was released in Brazil, along with an 7-track EP that was sold at concerts. A limited edition version of the album had a CD-R included, so that the buyer could burn a copy of the album onto the CD-R to give to someone else as a gift. In Brazil the album has reportedly sold 5,000 copies to date, but neither the album nor the singles have reached charts. Two music videos were also released: "Off The Hook" and "Alala". "Off the Hook" was directed by guitar player Ana Rezende, and filmed at the home of band members Carolina Parra and Adriano Cintra, where CSS recorded most of their songs.

At the beginning of 2006, CSS signed with Sub Pop to release their international debut album. The first single, released in June 6, was "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above", with an accompanying video directed by Cat Solen. In July, along with DJ Diplo and funk group Bonde do Rolê, they began their first international tour. This took CSS through the U.S. and Canada where they performed at the Pitchfork Media festival, then across to U.K., France and Netherlands. While in Europe, they performed at the NME festival, sharing stages with the 1990s and opening for Ladytron and Primal Scream. They also played the first ever Indian Summer Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, alongside acts such as Antony and the Johnsons, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Gang of Four. There was also a small UK tour in November, undertaken with Basement Jaxx.

CSS sold as much as 60,000 copies in the US and Europe up to February 2007 (according to journalist Lucio Ribeiro in Folha de São Paulo).

They played on the NME Indie Rave Tour, along with The Sunshine Underground, New Young Pony Club and headliners Klaxons, and in the Coachella Festival in 2007.

CSS played various Festivals across Europe in the summer of 2007, including Hovefestivalen in Norway, Summer Sonic in Makuhari Messe, Japan and a packed-out high-profile slot on the Radio One/NME Stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals in England. They are opening for Gwen Stefani on the European leg of her The Sweet Escape Tour in late 2007, and playing at the Trinity Ball in Dublin, 2007.

CSS were rumoured to support Muse at Wembley Stadium on June 16, 2007, however the band were playing at the O2 Wireless Festival on the same day.

CSS played their hit single 'Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above' on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on Friday 15 June 2007.

CSS were due to play Lollapalooza on 4 August 2007 but they were held behind by United Airlines at New York Airport and missed it.  They did arrive in time for their performance at Virgin Festival in Baltimore the next day.

They are due to be performing a tour of the UK and Ireland from 9th October to 20th December 2007.

CSS caught an unlikely yet major break when their song "Music is My Hot, Hot Sex" was used in a worldwide television commercial by Apple Inc. for the iPod Touch. An 18-year-old British student, Nick Haley, used the song in a slick, homemade 30-second commercial for the iPod Touch that he created and then posted on the video sharing site YouTube on September 11, 2007. The same song had been used in a commercial for the competing Zune media player a year prior. Creative executives from Apple's advertising agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, saw Haley's creation, contacted him, and enlisted him to remake it as a broadcast version. The spot began airing in the U.S. on October 28, 2007, and later in Japan and Europe.

Their single "Off The Hook" has been featured in the video games Forza Motorsport 2 and FIFA '08.