Show Me The Body: Hardcore Bands do it Right.
written + photographed by hunter astrid
All I can say is, wow. What a night. This show was filled to the brim with incredible musicians and they brought out one of the best and interactive crowds I've ever seen. This show has already been majorly engrained into my brain and I know I'll be hyper-fixating on it for a long time.
Show Me The Body -
After four great sets and three intense hardcore bands, the crowd was already hyped to the highest level. Show Me the Body's performance was a perfect way to end the night. They sound just as strong live as they do studio recorded, and honestly they sound arguably better live. Julia's voice rung out powerfully throughout the venue and was perfectly matched by the drumming and bass. I've seen my fair share of banjo use in my time on earth but Show Me the Body does it in such a unique way that they stand out above the rest.
Show Me the Body is an American hardcore punk band from New York. The band is a trio that consists of Julian Cashwan Pratt (banjo and vocals), Harlan Steed (bass), and Jackie McDermott (drums). Their sound is a combination of hardcore punk, noise rock, and art punk and takes massive influences from hip hop, noise music and sludge metal. At a young age Julian Pratt became engrossed in the New York hard core music scene and bonded with Harlan Steed over playing music when they met in high school. Instead of playing clubs, the guys wanted to get personal with fans and started playing under bridge overpasses, alleys, and in basements.
Show Me the Body released their debut album Body War that came out in July of 2016 and features well known song "Metallic Taste." The album is full of themes from police brutality, to gentrification as well as anti-capitalism. The band also has a collective under the name of CORPUS and they released a compilation mixtape Corpus I in March of 2017. The bands next album, titled Dog Whistle, was released in 2019 and was heavily influenced by a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Their most recent album was released in October of 2022 and is titled Trouble The Water and features the song "Loose Talk.
The band is primarily punk rock but they combine techniques of alternative hip hop, sludge metal, and noise rock and pair it with aggressive drumming and banjo. They have a very abrasive style with computer programming that creates their distortion sounds in their music. Overall a very solid and strong band. 10/10 would highly recommend.
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Arcanum" off of Dog Whistle (2019)
Jesus Piece -
The fourth band to take the stage this night was the one and only Jesus Piece. Although I have been a fan for years, I’ve never had the honor of seeing them live until this extremely eventful night. The energy of this band, and the energy that is channeled by their audience, is honestly unmatched. Countless amounts of people kept making their way onto the stage and repeatedly dived into the audience. Their sound is a very brutal style of hardcore, yet their sound doesn’t get lost in the continues beatdowns and slams and stays recognizable and enjoyable the whole time. Aaron Heard (vocalist) used the whole stage to his advantage and was not afraid to interact closely with the audience (even often putting his mic towards people, having fans scream their lyrics aggressively).
Jesus Piece is an American metalcore/ hardcore punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was formed in 2015. The band consists of Aaron Heard (vocals), David Updike (guitar), John DiStefano (guitar), Anthony Marinaro (bass), and Luis Aponte (drums). Alexander Cejas is currently playing bass on this tour. Since formation they have released three EPs and two Studio Albums; Jesus Piece (2016), 3 Song Tape (aka Summer ’16 promo) (2016), Split w/ Malice at the Palace (2017), and Only Self (2018) and …So Unknown (2023) respectively. They signed to Southern Lord Records in 2018. In March of 2020 they were scheduled to tour with Code Orange and Show Me The Body, but the tour was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. In 2023, Jesus Piece joined Show Me The Body for the World War Tour.
According to vocalist Aaron Heard, the band was initially supposed to be a death metal band, but it evolved into the metalcore/hardcore punk/sludge metal fusion that we get today. Their influences for their debut album was “anything from brutal and old school death metal to straight-up punk and hardcore.” They’re part of a new metalcore movement that experiments with many “succinct, clobbering riffs” (Pitchfork). Their sound also seems to take influences from industrial music as well as ’90’s metalcore.
Jesus Piece’s stage presence and sheer talent has solidified a high position in my list of best live acts. I can’t believe it took me so long to be able to see them live, but I’m so glad that I was able to have this experience.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “Workhorse” off of Only Self (2018)
Scowl -
Scowl was the third artist to go on for the night and they were another five piece band. The second they all got on stage the whole crowd was instantly energized. The singer, a shorter girl with bright green hair, really pulled the whole performance together. She is one of two female musicians on this tour and she was easily controlling the stage and whole crowd. She has very powerful screams and a great singing voice; honestly just an all around badass front(wo)man. As the set progressed, people started to make their way onto the stage and started to stage dive into the already hyped crowd. Although the band all constantly used the whole stage, the performance did not seen jumbled. You can tell they're all comfortable with performing with one another. Majority of their set centered around the vocalist's harsh vocals, but towards the end of their set they did a cover of the Misfits song "Attitude," which really showed off her singing voice and just her vocal range in general. Very impressive.
Scowl is a hardcore band from Santa Cruz, California and consists of vocalist Kat Moss, guitarist Malachi Greene, bassist Bailey Lupo, and drummer Cole Gilbert. On this tour they are joined by Alexander Cejas, who is also playing bass with Jesus Piece on this tour. They released two EPS titled Scowl and Reality After Reality... in 2019 before releasing their debut album How Flowers Grow in November of 2021.
Scowl has been on the up and up ever since. Their latest release is a single titled"Shot Down" that was released early March of this year. Their sound is a combination of aggressive street-punk-hardcore that is paired with Kat's breathless howl. Scowl are apart of the nation's most intense hardcore movement right now. Although new up-and-comers in that scene, they are already making their name known and their sound stands out and is easily recognizable.
Taking influences from "Sonic Youth to the Stooges" (Revolver), their sound takes a bit of a step away from traditional hardcore, but keeps those roots embedded in their music. This show was the first time I had ever heard them and I instantly became a fan. I can't wait to see where their music takes them in the future.
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Bloodhound" off of How Flowers Grow (2021)
Zulu -
Zulu's set was truly what set the mood for the rest of the night. Majority of the audience came for a hardcore show and was ready to let loose. Although Trippjones set was very vibey, it wasn't the level of hardcore that the crowd was hyped for. The second the group took the stage, the crowd went wild. So wild in fact that the Paradise Rock club's security had to push the barricade all the way to the stage to give fans access to the stage to 'safely' stage dive. Their sound and music is brutal and vocalist Anaiah Lei has a very rough and harsh voice when on the mic. Although it's often hard to understand the lyrics he is screaming, it's not hard to follow along. The energy and sound of the music is enough to understand what they're trying to portray.
Zulu is an up-and-coming powerviolence group from Los Angeles and is apart of a massive hardcore movement currently taking over the music scene. Recently they were signed to Flatspot Records which makes them label mates with Scowl who is also on the World War Tour. The band currently consists of Anaiah Lei (vocalist), Braxton Marcellous (guitarist), Des Yusuf (guitarist), Satchel Brown (bassist), and Christine Cadette (drummer).
Zulu's sound is fast, intense and heavy but is also infused with funk, jazz, hip-hop and spoken-word. The five-piece band recently released an album titled A New Tomorrow at the beginning of March 2023. The album has been described as "angry and defiant, but it can also be celebratory" (Stereogum). Lot of bands like to create albums and music that you can get lost in and get into a "groove." although you can get lost within A New Tomorrow, you can't really get into a "groove," and that's the point. Music like Zulu's is bursting and disruptive, and that's what makes them stand out.
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Music To Driveby" off of A New Tomorrow (2023)
Trippjones -
Trippjones (aka Mista Sinister / Dr. Slice) was the only solo artist of the night, and his set was the first. His performance was honestly very unique. I walked into the venue a song or two into his performance and he had already helped set the vibes for the night. His music is a combination of synth wave and rap, which is honestly anew genre to me and thought was very fun. He had very moody lighting; a nice deep blue that helped convey the moodiness of his music and sound. Still very homegrown, when preforming it was just him, his microphone and his laptop. Deciding to preform shirtless, the lighting really emphasized his impressive stylized tattoos. Honestly, the look matched his sound and vibe verv well.
Like most rappers and musicians, Trippjones uses Bandcamp and SoundCloud to his advantage. He's been releasing music on streaming services like Spotify since 2015 and has a collection of 13 albums featured on there. Some of the albums include Casket Tapes Volume 2 (2018), his debut streaming album Chambers of Abuse, Vol. 1 (2k15) (2015), and his most recent album Raining Flames that was released in 2021.
Some of his most well known and most recognizable singles include "On Da Clock" (2021), "Hard 2 Find" (SPEED MODE) (2021), and "I love you sky of Blue" off of Doctor Jones Operation Underworld (2019). His most recent single was released on the day of this show and is titled "Sex Electric." Trippiones' set was definitely unique and different to the other artists on this tour. That being said, I'm interested in seeing where the next few years take him.
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Homicide On My Mind" w/ Freddie Dredd (2021)
