by Keegan Pierce
I saw Show Me the Body at Warehouse live this weekend, February 19th.
Show Me the Body believes in the DIY ethos. They've built their own record label, a recording studio, and community outreach programs through their CORPUS community. Their sound is also made from the ground up. A drum, bass, banjo fiddle punk trio is unique enough, but each member further contorts their instrument into something distorted, angular, and monolithic and almost unrecognizable. Unlike some bands that wield massive noise haphazardly, SMtB expertly allows for some quiet and empty space that allows their sonic pummeling to maintain its punch the whole show. Most of their songs have a rich dynamic range from quiet and slow to fast and loud that keeps the listener on a steady rise in energy culminating in the band thrashing around the stage.
The energy on stage was matched in the pit. This is not the first time I've seen SMtB pull a passionate crowd of young punks to the show. Given their surprising sound, it is at first glance surprising their innovative sound has found so many eager ears. That would be to mistake their singular sound for an insular sound, while SMtB has an inclusive message and sound. They wield their noise for the disenfranchised with their charged lyrics. Both times I've seen the band, they've created a lineup of punk, hip-hop, and metal bands in support. This created a great pit with all the angry young people in town, which was special.
Show Me the Body is defining their own space in the punk sound while generating the sense of solidarity and community the genre is about. See them some time on their busy touring schedule!