Formed from the remnants of Bent Leg Fatima, Need New Body have been called everything from "beardo wierdcore" to "spazzcore," due to its splicing of such disparate styles as noise rock, folk, avant-garde and jazz.

Percussionist Chris Powell, keyboardists Dale Jimenez and Jamey Robinson and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Bradbury formed Bent Leg Fatima in 1996 and later moved to Philadelphia in 1999 before releasing their debut record.

Shortly after, Robinson departed, resulting in the band's disintegration. A few months later, the members began playing again under different names, while adding bassist Chris Reggiani and percussionist Jim Reggiani.

After recording their self-titled debut in 2000, the group settled on the name Need New Body and got on bills with like-minded bands such as Hella and Deerhoof. The band's second album, UFO, was released in fall 2003.

Two years later Where is Black Ben? arrived on Kill Rock Stars offshoot label 5 Rue Christine.