Watch a VHS Video for “Banana,” The Kominas’ Post-Punk Song for Children
The Muslim punk pioneers dart around Philly in the first of five new videos.
"Do y'all want any pills?" Hassan Ali Malik asks an audience in the opening seconds of the new video from Muslim punk pioneers The Kominas. He's holding a pill bottle. "What are they?" someone shouts. "They're, uh, bananas," he says, and out spills a bunch of tiny, pill-sized somethings—probably Runts. And so begins clip for the Pakistani-American band's sunny, singable garage-punk jam, "Banana," the first of five new videos they plan to film and release before the year's out. Shot on VHS, the lo-fi footage follows the four-piece as they dart around Philadelphia—on rooftops, through grocery stores—their harmless, slightly subversive humor shining bright. There's a lot of actual bananas in it, even though the song is lyrically about hoping someone does't go crazy. "It's a post-punk song for children about struggling with religion and identity issues," the band says over e-mail. Even if you lose your mind and go bananas/ I'll stay by your side. It's pretty sweet, actually.
