This week in 2008, CSS came to SoCal for the week and you know that was all us at SRO needed to go out and party. Damn if our favorite Brazilians didn’t kill it once again either. They were even smart enough to play the 4 good/decent songs off Donkey and leave the rest to their badass back catalog. Inspired once again, here’s triple trouble of CSS recent shots. Watch them and and party it up this weekend. Oh, and as a side note, can someone make a call and get a “Jager Yoga” video made already. Seriously, that shit should’ve been done years before “Left Behind” and “Move”.

Our first video in this trio will be lead by Nima Nourizadeh’s “Rat Is Dead”. You might remember Nima’s work on Flight of the Conchord’s “Ladies of the World“. Nourizadeh doesn’t fuck around with the responsibility of their lead-off video and goes proper glossy. I won’t deny that I’m rather stoked to see the kids looking sleek vs. Cat Solen’s filter.

This video also marks itself as a performance video, which many compare to the style of a certain Feist-y director. Now I couldn’t say if this were a direct influence or not, but there are many points that ring true. Including the single take (with hidden cuts), constantly moving camera (including extreme close-ups and high angles), and soundstage location, amongst others.

I suppose this isn’t the deepest of videos, but it’s fun as fuck, and when it comes to CSS, that’s what it’s all about. Oh and even though it’s impossible to resist Lovefoxxx, don’t for a second sleep on guitarist Luiza. Her model-ish mugging, dark mascara, and straight up shredding on the guitar warrant a close eye on her. See any of their live performances for further proof.

The result of this “Left Behind” video is rather interesting, even if the video isn’t. It seems fashioner/artiste Renata Abbade wanted to satisfy her inner visual artistry whilst showing off her fabric creativity. So she made a convenient video that was so far up CSS’ alley, that they considered it their official video for the “Left Behind” single. The move to do this screams CSS and should solidify their reputation as lovers of almost anything and a group that plays by their own rules, because well, they’re more fun.

Am I a fan of the video? Not really. Would I enjoy seeing it again? Probably not. Still, do I appreciate it’s backstory and how/why it exists. Good for Abbade and CSS.

Finally, we’ve got their most recent project, this time paired with the little-director-that-can, Keith Schofield. Things were a tad scary at first, when we notice he too likes to shoot the band with that yellowish antique filter like Solen. But as the video progresses, we forgive (or just forget) after we see where Schofield takes us and what he does with the band. Once again, this is a damn good pairing, having a such an open minded band married to a quirky young director.

The idea is simple, which allows the video to build off of its solid foundation and gives the band and director the freedom to take things almost anywhere. You can even see it on paper if you take a glance over at Schofield’s Treatment as well. Yeah some of the situations are weird or over-the-top, but remember, this is CSS we’re talking about. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Cheers for coming correct Keith!