History

Early Years

Julian Pratt first conceived of an early version of Show Me the Body after meeting Harlan Steed in ninth grade at Elisabeth Irwin High School ^[1] . Julian became increasingly engrossed in the New York hardcore music scene when he volunteered at the Lower Eastside’s ABC No Rio social space, a venue that hosts punk daytime punk shows on Saturdays ^[2]. They bonded over playing music with Pratt’s cousin, their former drummer and eventual in-house producer, Gabriel Millman ^[3]. They officially became Show Me the Body around a year after meeting ^[4]. As a way to get up close and personal with fans, instead of clubs, their first shows were played under bridge overpasses, alleys, and in basements ^[3].

2014-2015 Yellow Kidney and S.M.T.B.

By 2014, the band added current drummer Noah Cohen-Corbett ^[4][citation 9] and formed the musical collective Letter Racer with their classmates in the group Ratking and toured with them that summer ^[5]. That year also saw the release of their debut EP, Yellow Kidney, independently released on Soundcloud. Their release caught the attention of record label Loma Vista which facilitated the subsequent release of their self titled EP, S.M.T.B, in 2015.

2016-2017: Body War and Corpus 1

Their debut album, Body War, was released in 2016. The album touches on themes such as anti-capitalism, gentrification and police brutality through a wide range of experimental sounds ^[2].  Their collective, CORPUS, released their first self titled mixtape in 2017 ^[6].

2018-2019: Dog Whistle

While on tour in Poland, the band visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. This trip served as the influence for their third record, Dog Whistle, released on March 29, 2019 ^[7]. The album was written in Long Island City, and recorded in Los Angeles California the previous summer ^[8].

2020-Present: Survive and the Future

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Show Me the Body “had to reconfigure” how they “interact with” their fans ^[9]. Their reliance on live performances made this difficult, but they opted to establish a new studio space for their CORPUS collective and recorded an EP, titled Survive, which was released in March of 2021 ^[9]. The short EP deals with themes of isolation.

Style

Although primarily punk oriented, Show Me the Body combines the sounds of hip-hop, sludge, and noise in order to craft their unique and abrasive style ^[8]. Their conventional instruments, such as Pratt’s banjo and Steed’s bass, are accompanied by a wide array of pedals, feedback and computer programming ^[3] that form the characteristic distortion that features in much of their music. Pratt’s vocals along with Cohen-Corbett’s aggressive drumming help complete and add weight to the bands immersive and grunge-influenced songs ^[3].

Collaborators

Show Me the Body’s notable collaborators include, but are not limited to, Denzel Curry, Princess Nokia, Dreamcrusher, Wiki, Mal Devisa, and Ratking ^[6]. They have toured with King Krule ^[10], Daughters, and HEALTH ^[8].