March 2023 - Song of the Day - Nospectatorszine.com
Song of the Day: “Trans Day of Vengeance” by Body Farm: A band from both Ohio and Pennsylvania, Body Farm penned the ideal anthem for March 31 in “Trans Day of Vengeance.” With an unrelenting hardcore sound self-described as “Detestation meets Dropdead,” the group captures the anger of trans folx at a time when we’re garbage humans’ existential threat du jour. It’s not simply “ripped from the headlines” or “of the moment” or whatever, though, because trans punks have always been around, as have transphobes.
Body Farm heads the …So This is Progress? record label, distro and print zine. Issues of the latter come with a 7-inch flexi disc– a concept worth stealing once the budget here is less tight. The most recent issue (on the website, at least) has our Cleveland homie Zach Germaniuk of TV Drugs (and Pillars) on the cover. Its flexi features five Ohio bands formed during the lockdown, including TV Drugs. The zine dates back to 2005, and a new issue’s on the way.
As should be the case with socially-aware hardcore songs, it’s worth having the lyric sheet (or the copy-and-paste job below) in hand for your first listen.
“Trans Day of Vengeance” Lyrics
Respect my pronouns or I’ll stab you
I just want to reach and grab you
Right through my phone screen
How the fuck are you so mean?
You’ve pushed us to the limit
I’m so fucking sick of all this
Always fighting for existence
Tired of being this persistent
Respect is not up for debate
Don’t know how much I can take
Our chain is one they can’t break!
When the rats won’t drown
Bring the guillotine out
They try to steal our joy
Their hatred we’ll destroy
Never give up this fight
Transphobes must die tonight!
And we can burn it all down
Trans Day of Vengeance now!
We can burn it all down
Trans Day of Vengeance now!
And we can burn it all down
Trans Day of Vengeance now!
LIVING HELL PRESS RELEASES 2022
New Noise Magazine Feb 2022
Idioteq.com Feb 2022
MAY 2022 - Review - CVLTNation.com
BODY FARM’s new 12-inch Living Hell out now via …So This Is Progress is beyond fucking awesome on so many levels! From just looking at their album cover I could tell that I would enjoy every moment of this record. This band uses its platform to tell the world about the injustices that are committed against those that stand up against the corrupt. BODY FARM creates political war cries and anthems that inspire and give all of us food for thought! Ocean’s voice is a sonic weapon of mass change and makes the hairs on the back of your neck rise to attention.
Musically, this band lays down the law and bangs out scathing Hardcore Punk that is sick AF! Their song “Ohioan Solidarity” is a get-up-and-go tune that is full of chaotic chaos that will leave you feeling hyped! Their title track “Living Hell” which closes out the record reminds me of Suicidal Tendencies through the lens of uncut raw audio mayhem! Yo BODY FARM, I want to salute y’all for creating a record that will stand the test of time and will also make a difference in the fucked up world!
APRIL 2022 - Review - Maximumrockandroll.com
BODY FARM Living Hell EP - Oh, I feel fortunate to be assigned this record. The flexi by BODY FARM I reviewed last month was thoroughly impressive and a powerhouse of consolidated hardcore. Politically drenched in passionate activism, BODY FARM brings an intense, clear, and brilliant message in a positive light. Musically, BODY FARM goddamn rips. A flurry of powerblasting and anarchistic cheer punctuation. Feeling some old favorites such as EBOLA, HARD TO SWALLOW, GRIEF, CAPITALIST CASUALTIES, DR. KNOW, PLASMATICS…you have likely not heard anything like this recently. Part dooming breakdowns, part raging blasts, with brief skips of D-beat and thrash ferocity. Bass gargles like a leviathan, vocals are manic and echoing. Complimentary lower vocals are smoldering crust. “Ohioan Solidarity” is a bolstering anthemic crusher. “Death on Two Wheels” might be my favorite, starting off with a Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure quote from the biker bar. Love it! The closing title track grooves me out, just to want to spin it again. It is a fast listen, but there is a lot to pick up on. This record is fantastic if you are looking for something very fresh and very smart. A+!
APRIL 2022 - Review - Gadgie Fanzine
BODY FARM - Living Hell - Tape/Digital EP - A fearsome, ferocious four piece from Ohio, USA out on cassette via Sunderland’s Serial Bowl records who seem to be mining a rich seam of brutal bands from that part of the world these days. Well, hurrah for that! Body Farm then? It’s pretty obvious before I even fire it up that we are in for something unpleasant. Body Farm sounds like that horrible moment in The Road where theres loads of people being kept prisoner in a cellar … I imagine that’s the confrontational ambience they were going for as, musically, we are in the realms of power violence with an honking great dollop of circle pit hardcore mayhem. Front woman Ocean sounds a fierce prospect with a voice that will have those of a certain vintage reminiscing about Detestation’s whirlwind of a frontwoman Saira. Totally enraged, the delivery is really impressive - not screaming or yelping – sort of “extreme singing”. The “tunes”, for want of a better word, are generally on the fringes of Dropdead like grind violence, which as regular followers of this scroll know, is the gold standard for this sorta carry on. There’s samples aplenty too which, coupled with their abrasive lyrics, show a powerful message in support and solidarity with various groups linked to planned parenthood and Black, Queer and Intersectional rights and action. Yeah! Everything Punk Rock should be in these dark days. SERIAL BOWL RECORDS
APRIL 2022 - Review - Personalpunk.wordpress.com
BODY FARM - Living Hell EP - This is the stuff. A four-piece hardcore punk band since 2019 who, not only knock out gnarly blasts of pure rage but are also heavily active in local politics, having worked with and supported NARAL of Greater Ohio, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Sex Militant and the Black, Queer and Intersectional Collective.
At over 2 minutes, 20-20 is the longest song on Living Hell. The astonishing sampled speech, overlaying the band’s stark intro, takes up half of it. By the time they erupt with some intense, femme-voxed, powerviolence-peppered thrash, it’s almost over. The rest of these eight tracks tread similar ground but it never gets old. The sludge of Riot, interspersed with manic fast blasts, bring to mind Californian legends SPAZZ, with high-pitched vocals, as does Death On Two Wheels‘s thrash acrobatics. Doublethink throws in a fucked-up guitar solo and there is an element of dissonant noise to Greed‘s 43 second power-violence/sludge meld. The occasional stomping and shouting wallop section completes the picture.
The production seems a little ‘demo’. While this is de rigueur for the genre, allowing the instruments to retain their unrefined edge, the echo effect on the vocal detracts a little from the purity of the anger. Initially disorientating, this small niggle fades away as you lock in to this imaginative set of fiery, protest thrash. Inspiring stuff.
Released on March 25th so go to it. 12″ vinyl via Blind Rage Records, Dead Tank Records and their label So This is Progress. The US tape pressing will be released via Dune Altar Records and the UK tape pressing via Serial Bowl Records. The latter is available to order here.
MARCH 2022 - REVIEW - jerseybeat.com
BODY FARM - Living Hell EP - Hardcore! Body Farm is a four-piece from Ohio that rages, with hardcore, thrash, power violence, and even grindcore elements to their music. They’ve got eight new songs on this ten-minute EP, and their name is their politics. They’re active with NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Sex Militant, and the Black, Queer, and Intersectional Collective. Their lyrics are militantly political and songs touch on topics such as what real justice is, true equality, body autonomy, the harm greed does to society, police murders of people of color, and more. The vocals seethe with righteous indignation, and the instrumentals pummel. Besides the songs, there’s a spoken word treatise in the opening track, “20-20,” and various sampled clips from various sources to illustrate the issues the band is highlighting. The recording is somewhat lo-fi, but the fidelity in the sentiments is strong.
MARCH 2022 - REVIEW - maximumrockandroll.com
BODY FARM - Body Farm Single Flexi 7" - One three-minute track of vicious powerviolence and raw hardcore with excellent harmonic vocals. A punctuated assault of brutal blasts and breakdowns. This flexi really accentuates the band’s tightness, timing, and ferocity. It almost feels like a three-chapter musical that detonates in a chant in solidarity. Out of Baltimore, OH, for fans of ’80s UK thrashcore, anarcho/peace punk, powerviolence, hardcore, and excellent vocals. Reminded a bit of RUBBLE, MELT BANANA, HOPE?…this brief mind-bender is punk as fuck.
FEBRUARY 2022 - REVIEW - noecho.net
BODY FARM - Living Hell EP - Body Farm has been producing (get it?) politically-charged ripping hardcore since first appearing via their 2019 demo. The quartet has released a self-titled EP, a split 7-inch with fellow Ohians SlutBomb, and a flexi single, plus appearances on the Sincere Flattery Vol. 1 compilation and the soundtrack to the film, They/Them/Us.
Today, No Echo is excited to help spread the word about Living Hell, Body Farm's forthcoming 12-inch EP, which we're streaming early below.
"The lyrics I write are inspired by personal and societal moments in time," Body Farm vocalist Ocean told me via email.
"A lot of what makes me angry is the fact we exist in a society under capitalism, patriarchy, and White Supremacy. The issues within those systems could sometimes be easily solved if the people in charge actually gave a shit about us. Reminding myself and others to watch what’s happening seems natural considering rebellion is important to punk."
Ocean continued: "The destruction of White Supremacy would lead to a better future for everyone under a revolutionary cause. We mean it when we say it’s to blame for harms so many people face. It doesn’t sit right with me to just observe and not say anything to question and push back against what’s continuing to be a problem. People deserve to thrive instead of struggle because in reality there are plenty of resources to go around."
Body Farm supports and works with NARAL of Greater Ohio, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Sex Militant, and the Black, Queer and Intersectional Collective.
Since they're so heavily involved with local causes and have made it a point to get the word about them, does Ocean feel that the current hardcore/punk scene should be more engaged in that regard?
"Volunteerism and involvement in local activist spaces has always been an important part of DIY culture. We ran into a lot of our friends during the summer of 2020 at various protests. If a band comes off as performative its because of their peers seeing their true colors in real life spaces."
FEBRUARY 2022 - Review - columbusalive.com
BODY FARM - Living Hell EP -
“Justice is not a concept we read about in a book,” recites Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a snippet from a 2019 speech that kicks off Living Hell, the ferocious new EP from Columbus hardcore quartet Body Farm, out March 10, which the band will celebrate with a release show at Used Kids on Friday, Feb. 25, alongside openers Pillars and Wasp Factory. “Justice is about the water we drink. Justice is about the air we breathe. Justice is about how easy it is to vote. Justice is about how much ladies get paid. … Oftentimes, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table.”
On Living Hell, the members of Body Farm don’t so much shake the table as reduce it to kindling, singer/howler Ocean-Breeze Kudla, guitarist Erek Kudla, bassist Alex Emmert and drummer Steven Brujoso repeatedly curling together like the four fingers of an aggressively swinging fist.
The songs, most of which clock in around a minute, give or take, veer from heavy, sludge-rock brawlers (“Riot”) to breathless punk rippers (“Ohioan Solidarity”), unified by the underlying idea that our social and political realities are bad and getting worse. This is particularly true of the nightmarish title track, on which Ocean-Breeze Kudla appears to unload on the unbearable weight of the modern news cycle, a reality that continues to ring painfully true.
Rather than running from this ugliness, however, Body Farm repeatedly stares it down — “Close your eyes and embrace the oblivion,” Ocean-Breeze offers on “Death on Two Wheels.” It’s a consistently fearless approach, projecting the idea that perhaps it’s better to live fighting in hell than to stand silently by and be swallowed by it.
JANUARY 2022 - REVIEW - razoecake.org
...So This is Progress? 004 flexi EP + zine - Earnest and straightforward ...So This Is Progress? creates a flexi compilation of Ohio punk bands—reactive and restless to a world that has melted due to COVID and late stage capitalism—and a “how to” zine that is user friendly regardless of, well anything. DIY “how to’s” in unpretentious language, recommendations, and mentors that are open to sharing their knowledge are listed, step by step, along with band pics, advertisements/listings, and contributions, as well as a “How to Bicycle Tour on a Budget” account by someone named Nard. What I like about this most is how community-driven this is, and although I don’t know about this particular microcosm in Ohio, I felt it was inclusive by being very general and open. The flexi offers short, succinct spurts of powerviolence, hardcore, punk, doom, and thrash from local bands TV Drugs, Human Law, Stall, Locked Up, and Jack Knife Beat Down. Package deal—easy, fun read and cool flexi. –Camylle (sothisisprogress.com)
NOVEMBER 2021 - REVIEW - MaximumRockandRoll.com
...So This is Progress? 004 flexi EP + zine - Short and sweet—five Ohio bands with tracks recorded during Thee Time Ov Covid. TV DRUGS (meaty punk rock), HUMAN LAW (ugly, downtuned drum machine noise/sludge), STALL (vicious hc/grind), LOCKED UP (even more vicious grind), and JACK KNIFE BEAT DOWN (blinding lo-fi thrash punk). Delivered with issue #4 of …So This Is Progress? fanzine.
FALL 2021 - REVIEW - razorbladesandaspirin.com
...So this is Progress? 004 flexi EP + zine - I love this series of comps/fanzines which Erek has been doing for sometime now – musically this is varied from grinding metal to sloppy punk and back from Ohio. For the zine we have reports of the first shows back post quarantine, plus articles on “How to bike tour on a budget” and “How to press a record.” Bands on the flexi are TV DRUGS, HUMAN LAW, STALL, LOCKED UP and JACKKNIFE BEAT DOWN.
FEBRUARY 2021 - REVIEW - maximumrockandroll.com
TV DRUGS - FFO: Everything Terrible cassette - A nice solid blast of modern American hardcore punk. Guitars have a nice solid blast of catchy ’90s basement punk (“How Far?” and “Livin’ The Dream,” in particular) and there are some good creepy vibes—but it’s kinda funny because it sounds like TV DRUGS are going for the tough chain punk vibe and the fact that they land slightly off that mark is precisely what makes them feel right.
FEBRUARY 2021 - REVIEW - maximumrockandroll.com
…So This is Progress? 003 flexi EP + zine - The zine part of this fine package is a collection of show fliers from all over Ohio, going all the way back to NECROS and DR. KNOW in 1985. There are a bunch of sick ones from the late ’90s/early ’00s that took me back. It’s amazing how many ways you can draw someone’s head exploding. The flexi part is a compilation of solo COVID projects by punks from all across the US. All the best styles are represented, from MOTÖRHEAD scum crust to bong-ripping glam thrash, and all the hardcore grinding violence in-between. In all seriousness, all these tracks shred, and the glossy print, hand-numbered zine is hella clean! Grab one while you can!
JANUARY 2021 - REVIEW - manierenversagen.de
TV DRUGS - FFO Everything Terrible - Nice punk album from TV Drugs from Cleveland, Ohio. That’s nothing more, luckily - finally just a really good punk album again.
This is the best music for a bad mood that is fun. Or the other way around.
That is shallow aggression in a loud melody and gentle noise in a beer foam sauce. Great.
You can order the CD in England from the great Serial Bowl Records label , but because of Brexit, the Compact Discs ™ ® are now turning the pigs the other way around than in the rest of Europe. Maybe you would rather order the tape from the USA from So This Is Progress Records ?
Can someone do that on vinyl? The cover looks so shitty, I would like that in large.
If you're fed up and want to be screamed at once again ... please.
JANUARY 2021 - REVIEW - angerburning.co.uk
TV Drugs – FFO Everything Terrible - Fresh out of the 2021 release roster from Serial Bowl, comes this surprise package from TV Drugs, blasting out of the starting blocks and hitting you at full speed in record time.
If their sound was a recipe, then it would have a brash mix of someone going into a kitchen cupboard looking for a big jar of Rudimentary Peni but at the same time dropping a bottle of Minor Threat and a pinch of Sanction This sauce into the cooking pot, bubbling away to produce the caustic product that needs to be handled with oven gloves.
Take a listen to the likes of “Medicated”, “Living The Dream” and “Consume” to see what I mean.
Sure, you could say there’s a big Poison Idea vibe going on too… but that despairing cry in the vocals for me is pure Blinko to these ears.
The closer track “The World” is a lovely wall of noise and brings proceedings to a satisfying close with its toe tapping and head-bopping riffage.
A great start to the year and one to blow away and Auld Lang Syne right out into the street.
JANUARY 2021 - REVIEW - razorcake.org
TV DRUGS: FFO: Everything Terrible: CD/CS - Sometimes it’s okay to go with pre-conceived ideas and with TV Drugs being from Cleveland, I got exactly what I was expecting, which is messy, manic punk rock. I’m certainly not saying that in a pejorative way, as this does a decent job of entertaining me. I especially love “Serve Me, Pig,” an extremely raucous track which ends with the line “I hate the fucking cops” being spat out. The CD version is out on Serial Bowl in the U.K. and the tape on So This Is Progress in the U.S.A. –Rich Cocksedge (Serial Bowl, [email protected], serialbowlrecords.bandcamp.com / So This Is Progress, [email protected], sothisisprogress.com)
NOVEMBER 2020 - REVIEW - maximumrockandroll.com
…So This Is Progress? 002 7″ flexi - This flexi mini-comp is included in a 16-page zine of disposable camera photos taken between 2001-2007 in California featuring 38 bands! So let’s get right to it; KIRITIERRA remind me of a more metallic NEGAZIONE; SACRIFYX recall CRUDE SS and FINAL CONFLICT; JEFFREY DONGER brought me back to LACK OF INTEREST and PLUTOCRACY. KRATOM seemed very OP IVY at first, then laid down a more BLACK FLAG sound. NERVOUS AGGRESSION plays like CAPITALIST CASUALTIES with the A-political voice of AXIOM. Pretty damn good and the photo zine is no slacker either. Photos of AFTER THE BOMBS, DYSTOPIA, MUNICIPAL WASTE, MELT BANANA, ANNIHILATION TIME, INSECT WARFARE and many others. A nice like celebration piece in a year where we can hardly see each other’s faces.
October 2020 - REVIEW - maximumrockandroll.com
HUMAN FAILURE / THRONE OF BLOOD Stock Pile split EP - These two likeminded but very different bands out of Baltimore deliver total sonic pandemonium with this one. HUMAN FAILURE hurls three ugly tracks that land somewhere in between BOLT THROWER and UNHOLY GRAVE, with BASTARD NOISE-style harsh electronics piercing through the whole thing. If there was a god of war, this is what it would sound like if they threw up. THRONE OF BLOOD mixes old school hardcore punk rage with noise rock delirium. Like if D.C. punks in the ’80s were into free jazz and psychedelic freak-outs instead of dub reggae. You want to fuck up your reality? Start here.
September 2020 - REVIEW - razorcake.org
Slut Bomb / Body Farm Split 7" - Proud Ohioans, Body Farm and Slut Bomb both have the sound of many generations of hardcore rolled into each song with references to contemporary politics dating them firmly in the present. Each band has a distinct sound but the split carries the feeling of a shared scene and musical influences. It is mostly what you would expect from a hardcore split. –Liz Jones (So This Is Progress, [email protected], sothisisprogress.com / Landslide, slutbomb.bandcamp.com)
September 2020 - REVIEW - razorcake.org
So This Is Progress?: 7” Flexi - The first installment of a photo zine/flexi series with more planned in the future according to season. The flexi leads things off with a walloping hardcore/powerviolence number from Forest Fucker from Columbus. Up next is Peace Talks with a mid tempo hardcore fist to the face. Nukkehammer, also from Columbus, storm the gates sounding like the second coming of Anti Cimex. Wounded Paw from Dayton berate the shit out of you with a stomper reminiscent of early Think I Care. Body Farm close the flexi out with a pogo/hardcore/thrash ditty that would bring the house down at any basement show. The photo zine is a collection of several bands captured live on disposable cameras between 2017 through 2019. Some of the bands photographed include 9 Shocks Terror, Iron Lung, Physique, Scumraid, Suck Lords, Warthog, and Wound Man. The photos are of great quality and are presented in a 7” booklet format to handily accompany the flexi. If the quality herein is consistent then I anxiously anticipate future issues. –Juan Espinosa (So This Is Progress, sothisisprogress.bandcamp.com)
June 2020 - REVIEW - noecho.net
So this is Progress Flexi / Zine 001 - ...So This Is Progress, the label cum podcast helmed by Body Farm’s Erek Kudla, recently released a 5-way split flexi in conjunction with a gorgeously rendered photo zine.
Ostensibly a love letter to the state of their hard-won and lovingly built Midwestern scene, the wax compiles tracks from four fellow Ohioan acts and a Pittsburgh punk outlier. Despite the oftentimes long drives between cities, the inhospitable weather, and the cultural chasms in between; their mutual admiration party is well earned.
Initially slated for a 4/20 release, the subsequent cancellation of life itself allowed for a bit of shuffling. The zine itself is a visual document painstakingly assembled from disposable (yes, you read that right) cameras copped from drugstores over the last few years. All in all, 33 bands get the photo treatment and, at the center, sits a transparent wax flexi emblazoned with an outline of the Buckeye State.
As a side note, it’s forever worth shouting out the affordable and “punk first” folks at Pirates Press.
First at bat is Forest Fucker with “Primary Succession.” Clocking in at sub 60 seconds with time to spare, the band decries both eco-terrorism and the performative sloganeering of hippie bumper sticker culture typically associated with it.
At its core, this is stripped down and raw hardcore that had me quickly clawing my way into their discography. Being as the track is the table-setter, their take on Earth First protectionism is a rip-roaring entry into an endlessly replayable mini collection. They vacillate wildly between raucous feedback, blastbeats, and throat shredding vocals intentionally buried like mud deep within the mix.
Not a shocker, this note-perfect mastering comes courtesy of Will Killingsworth. Worth a trip to their Bandcamp alone is the thoughtful and pissed band missive that ends “While you were hugging tress, they were fucking forests.” Nature may have returned in these bizarro times, but the Earth isn’t healing, y’all. Forest Fucker are the soundtrack to quelling the half-hearted celebration.
Peace Talks are the lone band that hail instead from the Keystone State. The Pittsburgh hardcore band here offers “Borders," a previously unreleased torrent of destructive mid-paced hardcore that calls to mind early '80s first wave as well as something altogether noisier and far more destruction minded.
They incorporate an almost discordant wash of squealing guitar noise into their attack, feeling both as noisy and destructive as actual peace talks. Thankfully, their firebrand take on hardcore is far less futile. Pennsylvania never ceases to amaze with their wildly varied stranglehold on every corner of hardcore‘s myriad sounds and Peace Talks are no exception.
On name alone, I kinda had to assume that Nukkehammer would fucking rule. As luck and the wizards of D-beat fate would have it, the assumption is immediately validated on “Zone of Alienation.” Their apocalyptic offering is the sort of world-endingly heavy crust you’d expect from Japan or Sweden and the standard blown-out sound more than earns the kängpunk tag they sport.
It’s a pummeling and treble-heavy track that wisely keeps it short, sidestepping the epic vibe. This horde calls Columbus home and, when the world either opens back up or swallows itself whole, I’d happily roadtrip it to catch this cantankerous crüe. To top it all off, that extra raw edge was provided by Audiosiege so it clearly takes one to know one. Crucial and dirty raw punk for the black and white album cover set.
The fourth waxen sacrifice comes from Wounded Paw. The Dayton based band dish out “Gods and Borders” which, fittingly, are a couple of my least favorite things. Judging by the corrosive venom that spews savagely from the speakers, the band concures. Opening with a rubbery bass line that nods to noise rock, they employ a sternum thumping drum sound and a chaotic vocal approach.
After a divebomb announces the mayhem, they commence with ripping straight edge (I think?!) hardcore that dazzles even at mid-pace. Though the wild bunch plays this one relatively straight and down the line to great effect, they typically peddle a compelling blend of hardcore sans qualifier, recklessly fucking with tempo and style. For those more inclined to need speed, check the Gem City punks’ 2018 full length for their signature chaotic speed trial vibes. The whole thing is a ripper that crashes all around you a la their hometown legends The Wright Brothers.
In No Echo’s hallowed pages, I relatively recently extolled the virtues of my new favorite band of Ohioans. “Rough Night” sees Body Farm again playing the hot hand, as they bring the same chaotic and bilious edge that made January’s 7” so special.
Serving as a proper bookend, they come armed replete with their usual frenzied and echoey vocals, dizzying tempo shifts, and blastbeats. Again, the party is over without reaching the minute finish line, yet Body Farm sneaks in three distinct movements of violent and cathartic hardcore. Whether at a straight ahead 4/4 stomp or a stampede of powerviolence flecked blasts, the band from the other Baltimore rules them all… again.
May 2020 - REVIEW - MaximumRocknRoll.com
So This is Progress Flexi / Zine 001 - The zine is just as much a photo essay as it is the story of the creator’s move from Oxnard to outside Columbus, followed by discovering what was happening punk-wise in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and NYC, documenting it all with disposable cameras. Whether shots of bands or friends, the euphoria of the punk show—and in particular experiencing it in a new place—is captured and conveyed in a way that made me feel the excitement vicariously (perhaps especially since gigs are on hiatus until who knows when?) The five bands on this comp—all great, scuzzy hardcore with some grind-leaning moments, all except Pittsburgh’s PEACE TALKS being from Ohio—also fit into the greater narrative of being representative of making DIY punk happen in their given cities. Even with the bar for 7″ comps being somewhere in the Earth’s mantle, this is a keeper. Just press number two to actual vinyl, please!
Spring 2020 - REVIEW - www.RazorbladesaandAspirin.com
SLUTBOMB / BODY FARM – Split EP Two hardcore bands from Ohio – for their side, SLUTBOMB deliver up two tracks of punk rock that alternates from a quick and quirky rocking pace to100mph thrashing and back with dual gendered vocals. On the flip, BODY FARM rips through two power violence inflected hardcore bomb blasts with high pitched vocals attacking religion and politics. This is a total rager.
May 2020 - REVIEW- MaximumRocknRoll.com
Slut Bomb / Body Farm Split 7" - There’s no shit going on here but the realest fucking shit. Insanely fast, high-energy hardcore punk that starts full speed out of the gate with BODY FARM’s “Mass” and seriously does not let up—if anything they get more intense when they slow down for the middle of their their side. The kind of slab that leaves you trying to catch your breath, and I’m struggling to inhale the rest of this band’s output all at once. On the flip, SLUT BOMB are great—very ’90s DIY political HC vibe, all over the map with femme/male trade-off vocals and wild wanks that crash recklessly into raging blasts. No genres for either band—no sonic constructs, either.
April 2020 - REVIEW - backseatmafia.com
Slut Bomb / Body Farm Split 7" - Noise punk is a variation of hardcore that is what it is for a reason, the message is of such, that screaming it out is a release as much as a getting the word out. Hence all releases tend to come with lyric sheets.
Central Ohio based punk-leaning, political power violence quartet Body Farm have released another two songs via a split with Cincinnati’s Slut Bomb this week. Again, the group makes no apologies for its political alignment with Planned Parenthood, Sex Militant, BQIC, Unharming Ohio and others all very different causes, but all worthy and much needed in some form or another, not only the U.S. but around the world.
Four tracks in total, all of which are no more than you would come to expect from the genre, it is hard to be objective about the music, when in truth, the whole concept of a noise punk song is purely to get across the message.
Body Farms offering is what feels like a track joined in the middle by a narrative, Mass – Welp, Covfefe is what can only be likened to a Crass style mix of music and word, heavy guitar shredding and power vocals squeeze all the Political, Social and Moral juices out of this track as it possibly can.
Slut Bomb on the other hand have two whole separate tracks “Get It Right” & “Wall” two beasts of hardcore with the very strange exception of Walls almost Johnny Cash intro, to soften the blow.
Although the above seems to be the norm in this genre, it does feel a chance is lost sometimes, if you want to get your message to a larger audience, would it therefore be much better served by not alienating some softer elements of the music buying public. Would this albeit soften the message, maybe it would. This is a whole new debate thread in the making.
February 2020 - REVIEW - maximumrocknroll.com
Body Farm 7" - Tripped-out hardcore with the sickest of breakdowns. Between spastic, unstoppable verses, BODY FARM shines brightest in breakdowns that are brutal and catchy with a metal influence. This might be the first time I’ve heard an actual sample of Trump on a punk record, and it’s definitely successful at being completely vomit-worthy. I hate hearing his voice, but have to admit they use it effectively to establish context for a song about the prospect of people being punished for having abortions. The fury and passion of the song are set off against a backdrop of the true-crime nightmare that is American politics. This is totally excellent. - Heather Blotto MRR
January 2020 - REVIEW - RazorbladesaandAspirin.com
BODY FARM - S/T EP Seven track EP of quick paced bordering on power-violence style hardcore from Central Ohio. Reverb soaked female vocals lashing out against sexual violence, sexism and more - a great debut and where it comes with a lyric sheet for a reason. - razorbladesandaspirin
January 23, 20 - REVIEW - NoEcho.net
Body Farm 7" - Hailing from the “other” Baltimore, the pummeling Ohioans known as Body Farm peddle a brand of hardcore punk-influenced power violence that’s blindingly fast, cutting, and fun as fuck.
January 10th saw them drop a S/T 7” which is a split release between ...So This Is Progress and Financial Ruin Records, respectively. The former is, I found, owned by the Club Chill swigging punks on the back cover themselves, who’re incidentally responsible for a podcast by the same name. Give a listen here, if for no other reason than to expand your record collection via their killer Top Ten of 2019 special.
Admittedly, the "power violence" tag, while certainly applicable when the band is going “all bash, no flash," is a bit reductive when considering the staggering variety they’ve managed to cram into. As described by the self-appointed label descriptor “Detestation meets Dropdead”, there are elements of traditional PV to be found on display here, mostly when they’re exploring the start/stop dizziness of fastcore and the chugging bits of sludge that classically act as a change of pace.
More interestingly, though, the forensics on Body Farm reveal a band far more varied. There are elements clearly lifted from the halcyon days of USHC, with '80s riffs brazenly frontloading a number of the tracks. The proceedings ultimately fall somewhere closer to more recent wild ones like Cerce, Exit Order, C.H.E.W., Sick Shit, and Tørsö.
The dual opening salvo of “Tower of Babel/Gang Vocals” starts as a somewhat pleasant ruse, the dissonant feedback and ambient noise, while not altogether calming, is the false flag that preempts development into an impossibly raucous burst of blastbeats and buzzsaw guitars. The upfront vocals are the perfect marriage of deafening, confrontational, and echoey that, when paired with the backing vocals of the first track’s back half, feels like the entire block is shouting along to the closing line of “Not In My Town.”
Be it Maryland’s Charm City or Baltimore’s sister city over there in the Rust Belt, I can only imagine how well this must go over live. It feels organic and overflowing with energy that feels both like seething bouts of nihilism and the celebratory “us for them”-isms inherent in punk. They even manage to tack on a sidewinding slither of a southern guitar riff as a kissoff. They squeeze in a fleeting flash of two step that again highlights a band fusing bruising traditionalism and forward thinking hardcore.
- Body Farm have certainly spent time with the Capitalist Casualties catalog, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find a far more well-rounded and, dare I say, melodic collection in their midst. As lightspeed as the band plays, they seem to know their way around a, you know, actual song.
“1984” and, subsequently, “Poison” together clock in at an even minute. These are perhaps the tunes that’d get them lumped in with the Rhode Island titans that penned “Unjustified Murder," but Body Farm are equally at their best when peddling their nihilistic fury in bursts just south of 30 seconds. The Orwellian nightmare that has sadly become everyday reality lands in the former’s lyrical crosshairs, while the poison in question is certainly not the sugar rush of their Speedway refreshments on the rear of the insert.
Elsewhere, the hopelessly bleak and acronym-baiting “s.a.d.” crushes from word one. It’s an unsettling defeatist anthem, though its teeth are still gnashed and bared.
“Rough Night” finds them riding wildly on the back of a ripping, “blink and you’ll miss it” classic hardcore guitar run and it’s follow-up “Screen Life” is yet another exploration of brevity via brutality, bouncing between grinding passages and something more traditionally punk. Exploring thematic terrain oft-ignored even in the punk community, here Body Farm feel lyrically and musically adventurous, dropping in dazzling bits of low end, all with their phasers set on “kill.”
“45/June” continues their penchant for dutifully crafting the mini-suite, pairing the 40-second barbed takedown of the Trumpian nightmare with an unflinching yet hyper literate treatise on the innate evils of forced motherhood. This dystopian duo of tracks feels more violent and roughshod than elsewhere on the 7”, unleashing maniacal and barked backing vocal that plays as if a secret weapon, falling somewhere more in line with the tradeoff found traditional power violence. That they don’t rely on the lower register, unhinged backing vocal only speaks to the amount of restraint and subtlety in the band’s attack.
Ocean, the vocalist, is confident, fearsome, and commanding. The guitars are both thick and trebly and the rhythm section is devastating. This is the type of record that’s over by the time you’ve turned your back on the turntable, but rest assured, shit is rewarding. I’ve never visited an actual body farm, y’all, though i’d venture a guess that your freshly decomposing corpse would regret not picking up this slab of hot wax when you had the chance. They’ve got some rad shows coming in 2020, so keep up with ‘em on IG to stay in the know...
To snag the record, hit up either: Financial Ruin Records or Bandcamp.
January 9, 2020 - INTERVIEW - ColumbusAlive.com
The power violence quartet will celebrate the release of its brutal, socially and politically charged debut with a show at Used Kids on Friday
Growing up in California, Body Farm singer Ocean-Breeze Kudla didn’t have to contend with things like winter or the politics of living within a swing state, both of which had a palpable effect on her mental health after the musician relocated to Pickerington with husband/bandmate Erek Kudla nearly four years ago.
“It was such a culture shock coming from California to the Midwest,” said Ocean, who joins Erek and fellow Body Farm bandmates Steven Bujdoso and Alex Emert at Used Kids on Friday, Jan. 10, for a concert celebrating the release of the group’s brief, brutal debut recording. “My mental headspace when we first formed the band, to be honest, wasn’t great, so I’m glad I had this outlet. I was fighting seasonal affective disorder, which was something I’d never experienced. ... And I remember living in a swing state during the election and having Trump come into office, which was a huge hit to me in more ways than one, because I wasn’t just thinking about myself. I was thinking about all of my friends and family who are a part of alternative cultures and lifestyles, and how this election would affect them. ... Hearing the manic, grinding music these guys were making, it was like, ‘Oh, this is the perfect time to get this out and continue that conversation with people.’”
Body Farm approaches these conversations with admirable urgency, the music practically grabbing listeners by the shoulders, desperate to wake them to the gathering storm clouds. Owing to both genre conventions (Ocean noted that power violence songs are notoriously short) and the influence of living in a time when attention spans are greatly abbreviated (“A lot of people just read the headlines ... and not the actual article,” the singer said), Body Farm songs rarely linger, with most clocking in at under a minute.
The Orwellian “1984” addresses the threat of totalitarian rule in a violent, 26-second eruption, while “Screen Life” manages to touch on the ills of social media and the importance of supporting sex worker’s rights while holding to a 51-second run time. Then there’s “June,” practically an epic at 1:42, which incorporates snippets of an interview with President Trump and confronts the rapid loss of reproductive rights under the current administration. “You have no control!” Ocean seethes atop sludgy, abrasive guitars.
“We’re definitely political ... and those messages are not just on our album, but are also on our social media presence. We very purposefully support certain local organizations who have a truly great vision of what our world should be,” Ocean said. “We support harm reduction. We work with organizations like BQIC (Black, Queer & Intersectional Collective), the Ohio Women’s Alliance, Planned Parenthood and UnHarming Ohio.”
It’s this activist community that has given the members of Body Farm hope amid the current turmoil, which, while not necessarily prevalent in the music, is instrumental in maintaining a drive to create
“It’s very important we look for hope in times like these, and that people are not afraid to speak up, and to speak up for those who might have been silenced,” Ocean said. “That’s how I’ve survived the last four years, and that’s what makes me feel like I can keep on going.”
While Ocean had played in bands prior to Body Farm, this is the first time the musician has taken on a lead role, having previously played drums or contributed backing vocals. In approaching vocals, the singer incorporates elements of everything from the punk music to which she grew up listening to the spoken word cadences deployed by the performers in Button Poetry videos.
“I’ve never been a singer in a punk band. This is my first time doing this, so it’s definitely been an experience for me,” Ocean said. “I’m not always the type of person who seeks out attention, but [my bandmates] saw this as an opportunity to be that person. It still makes me anxious because I’m an anxious person, in general. But it also feels really good to finish a set and have another person come up to me and be like, ‘Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe this just happened and this is something you just did.’ And I’ll say back to them, ‘I couldn’t have imagined doing this a year ago, either.’ This whole project ... is pushing me in a really positive way.” - By Andy Downing
December 6, 2019 - REVIEW - Razorcake.org
Body Farm Demo CDr - Raging, noisy hardcore with great vocals is what is happening here. And I’m hearing it on a handmade CD nearly two decades into the twenty-first century. Cool to see a band taking the time to put something like this together at this point. Killer guitar tone, great energy, and a solid rhythm section; this band is likely to just slay in a live setting. –Mike Frame