Brazilian band CSS (in full, "Cansei de Ser Sexy") made some waves in 2006 with the international release of their debut album. It was an intriguing mixture of dancefloor electronica and hard punk rock, and it did respectably here in Australia despite gaining an uneven reception overseas. Following up on its success, the band has quickly recorded a second album, perhaps in the hope that they'll stay in the public eye and not be passed over in favour of the dozens of new bands trying the same approach.

This is a shame, because "Donkey" sounds underdone, and it probably could have benefited from another six months or so to develop into something that was worth releasing. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing actively offensive or terrible about "Donkey", it's just that it completely lacks the charm and energy of its predecessor, and for a band that rely entirely on charm and energy, this is a fairly serious problem.

Take as an example the first single, "Rat Is Dead (Rage)". It's pleasant enough to listen to, complete with the smooth vocals of Luísa Matsushita (I refuse to use the incredibly pretentious "Lovefoxxx" name), the requisite bursts of distorted guitar and exuberant screaming, and a beat that invites one to shake their hips. However, and this is the difference between this album and their previous one, I never actually experienced an irresistible urge to get up and jump around the room while listening to this.

Part of the reason for this might be the personnel changes within the band since the last release, but personally I'm going to go with the idea that it's more to do with the horrendous overproduction evident on this album. A band that has made its name with a decidedly glam-trash sound probably shouldn't be polishing all of the edges off of their sound, but this is exactly what they do on a whole bunch of songs that really should be more magnetic than they actually are, like Jager Yoga and Left Behind.

Overall, "Donkey" is a strangely flat and disappointing release from a band that I had thought held a lot of promise. There is a lot of promise displayed here, and with a bit more work a lot of these songs would be more fun than they actually are. Hopefully for album number three, they take their time and make sure that they're releasing quality rather than rushing to put something out as soon as they can.