I like to think this video is meant to show the nasty, gross reality that surely lies at the core of those crass coming of age parties showcased on MTV's engrossing My Super Sweet Sixteen. "Alala" has the members of Brazilian electro-rock collective CSS tearing each other apart while wearing pretty dresses at a formal party. The damage they inflict unto one another is then featured in fake time lapse footage that shows them in a state of reverse decomposition.
Director Cat Solen breaks the down the concept and the production:
The first elements I came up with were the time-lapse scenes where you see the injuries healing. I was listening to the song and I thought it was really tough, but still cute. That led to the idea of having a fight at a party. I was thinking of the band and their audience and I just thought it would be better if it started out really gross and then got beautiful. That's why it's all backwards. Alala backwards is still Alala; It's a palindrome. So the backwards stuff is also meant to be a funny reference to the title.
We only had two weeks to make the entire piece. The band was living at my house and every night we would do the makeup and the time-lapse shots on one band member. We'd start at around 5pm go until two in the morning. Then at the end of the shoot, we did the party scene.
The cat in the video is mine. His name is Count Solen. CSS fell in love with him, so we snuck him in after they left. They didn't know he'd be in the video, so it was a little surprise. I wanna make Count famous.
--> watch "Alala" in Quicktime or at YouTube
CSS "Alala" (Sub Pop)
Cat Solen, director | Clint Cowen, producer
Partizan, production co | Stompbox Media, rep
Tarin Anderson, DP | Edward Cardena, editor
Kate-Eloise Mallor, make-up
