The Afghan Whigs — Conjure Me

JUL 01 1992 · 12:00

The Afghan Whigs — Conjure Me (1992) Director: Philip Harder Era: Sub Pop Alt-Rock / Grunge-Soul Crossover Era (1992) - Period in which Seattle-adjacent indie labels bridged punk-derived guitar rock with R&B and soul influences, yielding a darker, emotionally raw aesthetic distinct from mainstream grunge High curatorial value as a rare documented intersection of Sub Pop Records' visual culture and Southern soul/R&B aesthetics. One of only three videos made for Congregation and the most widely circulated, receiving MTV rotation at a formative moment for the band. The confirmed directorial credit (Philip Harder, via IMDB and Film Comment) and well-documented release context (Sub Pop SP-142, May 1992) make this a reliable anchor point for research into both the Afghan Whigs' visual identity and Philip Harder's early music video career. Context: Released in May 1992 as the second single from The Afghan Whigs' third album Congregation on Sub Pop Records, 'Conjure Me' arrived at a pivotal cultural moment when the Seattle label was at the epicenter of mainstream alternative rock's commercial breakthrough. Unlike their Sub Pop labelmates, the Afghan Whigs—formed in Cincinnati, Ohio—were consciously pursuing a soul and R&B-inflected sound that sat uneasily alongside grunge orthodoxy. The video received MTV rotation at a moment when the network's 120 Minutes program was the primary broadcast outlet for independent alternative music. The warm, tungsten-saturated visual language of the video, contrasted against its B&W performance passages, embodies the band's sonic duality: gritty indie rock infrastructure housing a deeply soul-influenced emotional core. Congregation was later described as 'the grunge era's most overlooked masterpiece,' and the 'Conjure Me' video is considered one of the most memorable of the album's promotional materials. Director notes: Harder is credited by IMDB as the director of this 1992 video, and Film Comment confirms he directed all three music videos the Afghan Whigs made for the Congregation album. The video opens with the band performing in black and white in front of a large white background, with intercut footage of the band playing at a club. The video features Greg Dulli in an intimate tableau with a woman. The production reflects Harder's early-90s Sub Pop-era aesthetic: low-budget, high-contrast, mixing B&W studio performance with warm-toned club footage.