Music
Stereotype
Desi punk crew serves up hardcore party jams with a side of protest politics
These carefree, Boston-based Desi punks take their signature Taqwacore to new heights on their latest album. On the punchy hardcore opener, “Pigs Are Haram,” guitarist Sunny Ali charmingly teases and provokes Western Islamophobia (“Dropping the bomb, so remain calm/Read the Qu’ran, pigs are haram”). “Banana” is a slacker anthem befitting the band’s name, which roughly translates to “the scoundrels.” Brimming with gutsy, danceable tunes and messages of social justice (“Just because of his belief/They called him a liar and a thief”), it’s a summer record like no other.