Synopsis

At a chaotic party, CSS perform as guests suddenly turn on one another in a vicious, blood-soaked brawl. The video unfolds in reverse, transforming broken furniture, spilled food, torn clothing and gruesome injuries back into an orderly celebration. As the violence gradually disappears, the participants regain their composure and return to carefree dancing. A sinister cat watches over the mayhem, adding a surreal horror-comedy touch to the clip's deliberately trashy, anarchic party atmosphere.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Alala" was originally released in Brazil in 2005 on CSS's debut album, Cansei de Ser Sexy, before the song received an international release through Sub Pop in 2006.

• The reverse-action concept makes the video unusual even within CSS's deliberately chaotic visual style. The backwards editing also turns the makeup effects into a visual puzzle, as wounds appear to heal and damaged surroundings restore themselves.

• Pitchfork included the clip in its list of the Top 25 Music Videos of 2006, highlighting the unsettling cat and the video's mixture of gore, absurdity and party imagery.

• Two different videos for "Alala" circulate. The other version presents the band outdoors and features a dancing cardboard box that eventually swallows the members one by one.

• The video has since been associated with the mid-2000s "indie sleaze" aesthetic, a period known for deliberately messy styling, low-budget irreverence and confrontational party imagery.