Ambling in a stupor with a laundry basket in hand in what looks like a peak example of strip mall-laden California and all the bleakness that entails, Allie X appears very disgruntled throughout the entirety of her latest single, “Regulars.” Undoubtedly as a direct result of having to consort with the everyman in any way, shape or form. Those who look upon her as though she’s some sort of freak walking around in her neo-goth getup and cartoonishly high heels that keep causing her to trip. Though she doesn’t seem that affected by the prospect of breaking both ankles.
Directed by Cody Critcheloe (known for music videos from SSION, Perfume Genius and Santigold), the wasteland aesthetic of every shot is a statement of Allie X’s own isolation among so many stark-raving normal people. Wandering desolate stretches, including near the Brass Ring, a warehouse nightclub open two nights a week, Allie X only continues to fall, a seeming metaphor for how often weirdos must take a tumble in their endurance of a regular’s judgment.
Even in the face of her overt “otherness” within this environment, she manages to hitch a ride to town despite her “unusual” appearance. Getting to the laundromat (with shots framed from the perspective of the security camera for an effect that heightens the notion of Allie X being like some sort of criminal for being different) proves easy enough compared to having to go to the grocery store. Another peak regular person’s activity, one that sends a middle-aged overweight woman (wearing a sweater in a shade of blue that Miranda Priestly would balk at) into a daze of shock over how such a person could exist in her realm.
Allie X ignores it as she trips into the store, finally taking her shoes off to run around barefoot as she blithely grabs random items for her cart. How else is one supposed to make a monotonous task a little bit more lively? In fact, maybe what Allie X is really trying to say is that freaks must perform average errands, too. We’re all united by the requisite nature of drudgery–some of us just look a lot more interesting while engaging in it. Then again, based on the horrified realization that comes across her face at the end while standing atop the checkout counter, it seems she is just as disgusted by hanging with the regulars as they are with her.
