From Brazil with Attitude

Cansei de Ser Sexy - Off the Hook

Unknown a year ago, São Paulo's Cansei de Ser Sexy have become one of the world's hottest new indie bands. Peter Culshaw offers 10 reasons why

1 The band's name. Cansei de Ser Sexy means "Tired of Being Sexy", and must be one of the best ever.

2 Their charismatic lead singer, christened Luisa Matsuita, glories in the stage name Lovefoxxx (love those three "x"s) and is a half-Japanese 22-year-old from São Paulo who loves to stage-dive into the audience at any opportunity. Despite the outrageous front, there's a slight vulnerability there too – as with all great pop stars.

3 They inhabit a fertile territory somewhere between the DIY subversiveness of punk, the retro-electro of Kraftwerk and the girl-gang mentality of All Saints or the Spice Girls (the band consists of five girls and a male drummer, producer Adriano Cintra).

4 Whereas most indie groups (especially in the world of "emo") and most female singer-songwriters have a tendency to moan endlessly, CSS are a life-affirming, whinge-free zone. When most bands and performers get on stage what they are projecting is: "Please love me – I'm really likeable and cool." But, like all the best artists, CSS give the impression that they don't give a damn what you think.

5 They represent something hopeful for pop music. A few years ago, new young bands from places outside Europe and the US tended to be copyists, doing usually second-rate rock or hip-hop, whereas they way CSS have packaged their influences is a breath of fresh air and genuinely original.

6 One test of a great band (Nirvana, Sex Pistols, the Smiths and Culture Club spring to mind) is that when you first see them you think, "I cannot believe I've just seen what I've seen." That was the way I felt when I saw them in a small club in São Paulo. Their debut album, while hugely pleasurable, does not quite capture the spontaneous wild rush of their live shows – but they're touring the UK right now.

7 Very few major bands are actually sexy (U2, Coldplay? I think not). CSS, despite the name, are – and with their own unconventional style, rather than the rather desperate, manufactured sexiness of a Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears.

8 The way they mangle the English language with their Brazilian accents is charming. Everyone can sing along: "You're so talented I'm in love / Let's make love and listen to death from above."

9 They are very modern in that, like British bands such as Arctic Monkeys, they built a significant fan base on websites like Tramavirtual and MySpace before releasing a record. The group also take on modern celebrity mania in songs such as Meeting Paris Hilton, which, like many of their creations, has a perfectly formed, insidiously catchy chorus worthy of a Tamla Motown single (except, being modern, the lyrics are along the lines of "The bitch said 'Yeah' ").

10 They are clever without being self-consciously experimental, and enjoyably obnoxious with an impeccable pop sensibility. They are, frankly, unstoppable.

CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy) are currently on tour in the UK.

www.myspace.com/canseidesersexy