On a freezing night in December 2017, I saw Show Me The Body for the first time. Freezing art students and punks lined up outside of Market Hotel, an all-ages venue in Brooklyn; on the inside, it felt like a squat where someone had pushed the couches to the side to create a stage in the middle of the living room.
We were just over a year into the Trump presidency, when shock and fear had given way to anger; Show Me The Body, with their fearsome brand of “ecclesiastical punk,” was constructing a way forward, with poorly ventilated spaces like this one serving as the threshold.
Unlike many cultural forces from that era of shock and confusion, Show Me The Body have thrived. Because at the center of Show Me The Body lies a dedication to community and self-empowerment: Vocalist and banjo player Julian Cashwan Pratt, bassist Harlan Steed, and drummer Jackie Jackieboy (who joined the band in 2021 for the EP Survive) are also founders of Corpus NYC, the band’s all-encompassing collective built on the tenants of mutual aid, creativity, and self-defense.
Read more on thefader.com