Is your iPod full of music from bands with swoopy hair and toothy publicity photos? Then you’re probably not punk enough to handle The Kominas.

Based in Boston and NYC, this (cautiously) self-defined Punjabi punk band have become accidental media darlings thanks to their re-configuration of two seemingly incompatible cultural forms – punk rock and Islam. Muslim punk rockers? Well, sort of. And yes, it’s as uncommon as it sounds.

In fact, the very first Islam-influenced punk bands existed only in a work of fiction – a novel called The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammed Knight. The Taqwacores may have been about an imaginary Muslim punk scene, but it rippled out into the real world, inspiring real-world kids to form real-world bands. The Kominas have been covered by CNN, MTV, Rolling Stone and various other mainstream outlets, but their story is often over-simplified, or botched all together.

Which is why, of course, you tune in to Issue Oriented. In one of the most compelling interviews we’ve ever featured, The Kominas and I talked about extremism, racism, Islam, punk, the media and so much more. Kominas members Shahjehan Khan and Basim Usmani, joined by Omar Waqar of Sarmust, lay it all out with a level of clarity that would certainly make most casual music fans at least a teensy bit uncomfortable. They also wonder aloud about when the day will come when people will be more interested in their music than their unusual story. Of course, those two things are inextricably linked, so it’s complicated.

This episode of Issue Oriented is not to be missed!

LISTEN: Issue Oriented episode 48 with The Kominas

PLUS! The economy sucks. Things cost too much. So let Issue Oriented help you out. Listen to this episode for promo codes that will get you discounts at all sorts of great places – PETCO, Angie’s List, CCS, Eastbay and Foot Locker. Or just click the “discounts” link in the sidebar. You save money on things you already buy, you support Issue Oriented, and together we achieve world peace. Isn’t life awesome?