Show Me the Body

A New York-based hardcore trio who augment their minimal bass-and-drums assault with samples, electronic manipulation, and the occasional report of a banjo, Show Me the Body are musical activists dedicated to protecting the people and culture of their community as well as the city’s underground music scene. The hard impact of their music is paired with lyrics that speak out against political repression and the culture of hate. Initially attached to New York’s Letter Racer collective, they released a series of critically acclaimed EPs and albums, including 2016′s full-length Body War, which netted them a deal with Loma Vista. Over the next several years, Show Me the Body released a handful of small releases and began a community effort called Corpus, which is centered around collaboration within their musical neighborhood. After producing music for several other Corpus artists, they returned with 2019′s socially conscious Dog Whistle, and added greater electronic textures on 2022′s Trouble the Water.
Taking their name from the legal term “corpus delicti,” the first lineup of Show Me the Body featured Julian Cashwan Pratt on lead vocals and banjo, Harlan Steed on bass and sampler, and Gabriel Millman on drums and sampler. The group’s story began when Pratt and Steed were both students at Elisabeth Irwin High School, a progressive school in Manhattan. The two became friends and decided to form a band. Initially known as U-Lock Justice, the group became a trio with the addition of Millman and changed their name to Show Me the Body. Becoming part of the Letter Racer collective — a community of conscious underground artists and musicians that also includes the hip-hop group Ratking — Show Me the Body soon developed a potent reputation in New York City, playing to growing crowds in makeshift alternative venues around the city. In 2015, Letter Racer released the group’s first EP, S M T B; that same year, Gabriel Millman dropped out of the band, and Noah Cohen-Corbett took his place on drums and sampler.
The album Body War followed in 2016, earning enthusiastic press and attracting the attention of the independent label Loma Vista Records. Loma Vista struck a deal with Show Me the Body and reissued the debut album before the year was out. In January 2017, Show Me the Body made headlines in the music press when, shortly after they had been announced as part of the lineup for the 2017 Coachella Festival, they declared they would not take part in the event. Two days later, they announced they would be playing Coachella after all, and while in California, they would also perform benefit shows for environmental and LGBT-related charities as well as donating their performance fee from the festival to the same organizations. Later that year, the band released a highly collaborative mixtape, Corpus 1, with various artists from their musical community. Inspired by working together, the band launched Corpus as a community effort and, in 2018, produced projects for friends like Dreamcrusher, Dog Breath, and Tripp Jones. Show Me the Body returned to their own work the following year and released 2019′s Dog Whistle, their sophomore album.
Two years later, the band issued the hard-hitting EP Survive, informed by their experiences visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum while touring in Poland. It was their first release with drummer Jackie Jackieboy, who replaced Noah Cohen-Corbett as SMTB built a new studio and pondered new ways to interact with their audience during the COVID-19 lockdown. That same year, SMTB contributed the track “Stone Cold Earth” to the album DC's Dark Nights: Death Metal (Original Soundtrack), an intense album of music tied in to the ambitious comic series. October 2022 brought Show Me the Body’s third album, Trouble the Water, where their hard-edged sound showed off a greater electronic influence. The band played a pair of festival dates in the United States to promote the release before mounting an extensive tour of Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia. ~ Mark Deming