CD REVIEWS COUNTRY
Sugarland, "Love on the Inside, Deluxe Fan Edition" (Mercury Nashville)
Jennifer Nettles' in-your-face performing style is akin to the sensation of diving into a chilly swimming pool. Even if you know what to expect, her nasal twang still feels like a full-body slap. Thing is, she has a terrific voice once you get used to it.
On her third album with Sugarland partner Kristian Bush, Nettles sings with palpable ache on ballads "Love" and "What I'd Give" and power on rocker "Take Me As I Am." (The 17-track "Deluxe" includes a live cover of Dream Academy's 1986 hit "Life in a Northern Town" with guests Little Big Town and Jake Owen, while the CD, in stores Tuesday, has 12 songs.) Country radio gave instant acceptance to the polarizing first single, "All I Want to Do," with its catchy or annoying (pick one, both descriptions apply) "oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo" hook and its McCartney-like bass line.
The highlight is "Joey," the most intriguing Sugarland song yet. "Joey" recounts a tragic, unnamed event. "What if I took the keys?" "What if we never fell in love?" The chorus cries, "Joey, I'm so sorry / Oh, can you hear me?" "Joey" doesn't reach the iconic status of all-time great mystery songs such as Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe," but it, and much of "Love on the Inside," showcase a duo at the height of its powers.
HOWARD COHEN, MIAMI HERALD
POP/ROCK
CSS, "Donkey" (Sub Pop)
More refined but no less sassy and party-starting than its giddy 2006 debut, "Cansei de Ser Sexy," CSS' sophomore showing ought to earn the patchy Brazilian troupe a bit more respect. The '80s-inspired swoon of "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" is a first-spin winner, whereas the buzzing "How I Became Paranoid" and "Believe Achieve" will make sure the dance floor doesn't feel neglected.
These English-singing boys and girls have struck upon the reliable formula of spiking rubbery electro-pop with pointed indie-rock guitar hooks and playful sing-alongs. It's to their considerable credit that the end product plays like inspiration and not architecture, even if there's nothing here as naughty as the last album's "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex," which so memorably lit up an iPod commercial.
