Multi-culty
Personality Cult have a new album coming out. I share multiple exposure film photos of them from a show a few years back.
When I talk to friends who don’t live around here about bands from around here that I highly recommend checking out, Durham, NC’s Personality Cult is at the top of the list. On record, the sound is brash and zippy, bringing to mind something like an American Buzzcocks with the pitch pushed up a plus or three. It also jitters and stop/starts like open throttled 21st century post garage punk bands such as the Reds and Marked Men. The latter looms especially loud on their new album Dilated (which comes out on Dirtnap on May 2nd) as it is co-produced by Jeff Burke who was a member of said bands.
Live, the PCult is rock-n-roll whiplash; spun tight and nary leaving a second to catch your breath before the next song starts. If the band took any longer than that between the tunes, you’d probably hear me excitedly proclaim “Goddamn!” and “Fuck Yeah!” as each ones end and the next one starts. I do that at every one of their shows I’ve been to anyway. One could describe their live sound as feral but they’re too damn tight and together for that word. Ferocious fits well though.
The following photos were shot on a Holga 120N; the beloved, cheap, Chinese plastic lensed box camera. You can read a little more about the history of the camera in a previous Clangoring article below.
PHOTO CLANG No. 1: Durham Square First
At any given time I have at least 3 different cameras loaded with film and ready to shoot. Different ISO’s each different camera to fit whatever the lighting situation may end up being. A roll takes me a month to finish so it is good to have different things in rotation
The film used was Fuji Pro400H 120 film, which is one of my favorite film stocks ever. I’ve always liked the way it renders colors both vibrant and muted. Fujifilm stopped producing it in early 2021 and I’ve been using what I had of it very sparingly ever since. I have maybe three rolls of 120 tops stashed away in the freezer, my clutch of 35mm rolls of it has been long gone for a while now.
These photos were taken at Rubies On Five Points in Durham, NC in August of 2022. I hooked Gino and the Goons up with two shows in North Carolina that weekend and Personality Cult went along for the ride as a “labelmate package deal” (both bands have had records released on Stoke, UK label Drunken Sailor.) This is the 2nd night of that weekend. These multiple exposure shots, to me, exemplify the “it’s all a blur” excitement the band lays out on stage in a way.
Personality Cult has been on hiatus for a spell and members have been keeping busy with other combos such as Future Fix and De()t. It was recently announced that they will be playing Dirtnap’s 25th anniversary up in Wisconsin at the end of August. Does that mean we’ll be getting a show or two in the Triangle over the next few months? I texted the band’s chief Ben with that exact question last evening. I’ll keep ya posted on the answer.