Show Me the Body (commonly abbreviated as SMTB) is an American post-hardcore band from New York City, formed in 2009. They have released four full-length albums, each drawing influence from genres such as hip hop, noise music and sludge metal. The band currently consists of lead vocalist and banjoist Julian Cashwan Pratt, bassist Harlan Steed, and drummer Nijol Benjamin.
History
2009–2013: 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. Julian became increasingly engrossed in the New York hardcore music scene when he volunteered at the Lower East Side's ABC No Rio social space, a venue that hosts daytime punk shows on Saturdays. They bonded over playing music with Pratt's cousin, their former drummer and eventual in-house producer, Gabriel Millman. They officially became Show Me the Body around a year after meeting. 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.
2014–2015: Debut EPs In 2014, formed the musical collective Letter Racer with their classmates in the group Ratking and toured with them that summer. That July 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 April 2015. By then the band had added Noah Cohen-Corbett as drummer.
2016–2017: Body War and the CORPUS collective Their debut album, Body War, was released in July 2016. The album touches on themes such as anti-capitalism, gentrification and police brutality through a wide range of experimental sounds. Their collective, CORPUS, released their compilation mixtape Corpus I in March 2017.
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. The album was written in Long Island City, and recorded in Los Angeles California the previous summer.
2020–2021: Survive and Trouble the Water Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Show Me the Body "had to reconfigure" how they "interact with" their fans. 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 2021. The short EP deals with themes of isolation. During this time, the band brought on drummer Jackie "Jackieboy" McDermott.
2026-present: Alone Together On July 10, 2026, the band released Alone Together, their fourth studio album. It received largely positive reviews.
Artistry Although primarily punk rock oriented, Show Me the Body combines the sounds and techniques of alternative hip hop, sludge metal, and noise music in order to craft an abrasive style. Their conventional instruments, such as Pratt's banjo and Steed's bass, are accompanied by an array of effects units and computer programming that form the characteristic distortion that features in much of their music. Pratt's eclectic vocal style paired with Cohen-Corbett's, and later McDermott's, aggressive drumming help complete and add weight to the band's grunge-influenced compositions.
Band members
Current members Julian Cashwan Pratt – vocals, banjo , programming, sampler , guitar, synthesizer Harlan Steed – bass, synthesizer , programming, sampler , baritone guitar Nijol Benjamin – drums, percussion
Former members Noah Cohen-Corbett – drums, percussion, programming, sampler Gabriel Millman – programming, sampler , drums, percussion Jack "Jackie Jackieboy" McDermott – drums, percussion , programming, sampler
Timeline
Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with release details Title Album detailsBody War Released: June 17, 2016 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, CD, vinyl, streamingDog Whistle Released: March 29, 2019 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, CD, vinyl, streamingTrouble the Water Released: October 28, 2022 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, CD, vinyl, cassette, streamingAlone Together Released: July 10, 2026 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, CD, vinyl, cassette, streaming
Mixtapes + List of mixtapes, with release details Title Album detailsCorpus I Released: March 24, 2017 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, streamingCorpus II Released: September 27, 2024 Label: Self-released Formats: digital download, streaming
Live albums + List of live albums, with release details Title Album detailsLive & Loose in the USA Released: October 27, 2023 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, CD, vinyl, streaming
Extended plays + List of studio albums, with release details Title Album detailsYellow Kidney Released: July 16, 2014 Label: Self-released Formats: digital downloadS M T B Released: April 20, 2015 Label: Loma Vista Recordings, The Famous Letter Racer Formats: digital download, streamingSurvive Released: March 19, 2021 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, CD, vinyl, streamingTrouble the Water Remixes Released: August 31, 2023 Label: Loma Vista Recordings Formats: digital download, streamingCorpus II EP I Released: July 26, 2024 Label: Self-released Formats: digital download, streamingCorpus II EP IIhttps://idioteq.com/show-me-the-body-unveils-more-raw-experimentation-with-corpus-ii-ep/ Released: September 27, 2024 Label: Self-released Formats: digital download, streaming
Singles + List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name Title Year Album "Death Sounds" 2013 "Gross Loans" 2014 Yellow Kidney "Steep Rock" "Bone Soup" 2015 S M T B "Body War" 2016 Body War "Trash" 2017 Corpus I "K9" Challenge Coin "Talk" "Camp Orchestra" 2019 Dog Whistle "Madonna Rocket" "Harder Than a Fight" 2020 Corpus Mutual Aid EP "Survive" 2021 Survive "Stone Cold Earth" Dark Nights: Death Metal Soundtrack "Loose Talk" 2022 Trouble the Water "We Came to Play" "WW4" "It Burns" 2024 Corpus II EP I "Stomach" Corpus II EP II "One Train" 2025 rowspan="2" "Sabotage"
Music videos + List of music videos, with directors, showing year released Title Year Director(s) "Death Sounds" 2013 Show Me the Body "Gross Loans" 2014 Aaron Naves "Steep Rock" Show Me the Body "One Train" "Bone Soup" 2015 "Space Faithful" Zach Hart "Vernon" Show Me the Body "Six Fingers Thick" Gabriel Millman, Sam Puglia and Boaz Steed "Body War" 2016 Show Me the Body "Chrome Exposed" "New Language" "Ammunition" Sam E. Puglia and Show Me the Body "2 Blood Packs" Gabriel Millman "Trash" 2017 Asha Efia Maura "Hungry" Elijah Maura "K9" Asha Efia and Show Me the Body "Talk" "Camp Orchestra" 2019 rubberband. and Show Me the Body "Madonna Rocket" Show Me the Body "Forks and Knives" Show Me the Body and Elijah Maura "USA Lullaby" Show Me the Body and Landon Yost "Arcanum" "Survive" 2021 Julian Cashwan Pratt "Loose Talk" 2022 "WW4" Oliver Shahery "Food and Plate" 2023 Dennis Wornick "It Burns" 2024 Asha Maura and Julian Cashwan Pratt "Stomach" Tanner Diamond, Marley Rutherford and Show Me the Body "Peace Corps" Alli Logout "One Train" 2025 Asha Maura and Greg Thomas "Sabotage" Jake Hanrahan and Jonny Pickup
References
External links Official Bandcamp page YouTube CORPUS SoundCloud