SHOW ME THE BODY

by Tim Moffatt

It seems that genre exists these days more as a reference than a place. That makes sense as current generations grew up with punk, hip-hop, heavy metal and all other kinds of music living in their heads all at the same time. Bands like Soul Glo, Ceremony and Show Me the Body aren’t afraid to mix and match genres in order to get their point across.

The first iteration of Show Me the Body was founding members Julian Pratt and Harlan Steed meeting in ninth grade in the late aughts. Their self-released first recording, “Yellow Kidney,” landed years later, in 2014. In the interim, the band played opportunistically — “under bridge overpasses, alleys, in basements,” as a 2019 dispatch from VCReporter noted, “pretty much any place where the group could set up and gather together a group of people to share in the music and the band’s messages of inclusion, tolerance and respect.”

Today they’re a trio signed to an independent label, Loma Vista Recordings, founded by a former major-label boss. While the band primarily leans in on a punk rock base, they have collaborated with hip-hoppers Princess Nokia, Denzel Curry, Wiki, Mal Devisa and Ratking, and toured with singer-songwriter King Krule and noise rockers Daughters and HEALTH. This isn’t so strange; punk and hip-hop have always been cousins from different sides of the tracks. And bands increasingly are looking for more unbound ways to emote their dissatisfaction with, well, everything!

There was a moment when it seemed like Limp Bizkit would be the apotheosis of “Judgement Night”-style crossover between hip-hop and rock. By collaborating adventurously, Show Me The Body is thriving creatively and helping to dispel any lingering nu-metal hangover. “Trouble the Water,” the bands newest record, garnered praise from Pitchfork for pairing “weird creatures of electronica and sudden clearings of melodic, galloping punk.” The Guardian called it “a cathartic release from volatile times,” and Stereogum praised it, while noting, “The best way to experience Show Me the Body is, of course, live.”

Show Me the Body, Jesus Piece, Scowl, Zulu, and Trippjones play 8pm Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Gramps in Miami. showmethebody.bandcamp.com