A Mumbai punk rock act has launched an album that punches the authorities in the guts
(From left) Drummer Dhruv Sarker, vocalist Arun Singh Ravi, and bassist Animesh Das of The Riot Peddlars
Things fall apart. The Centre cannot hold. We are living in times when ordinary citizens are burning in anger, but the government isn't singed. Our leaders are instead sitting on their high horses and trotting along as if everything is hunky-dory. So what does one do in a situation like this? Simple. You press play on city-based punk rock act The Riot Peddlars's new album, pick up a vase with fresh red roses in it, and smash it to the ground before stomping on the petals.
That's the sort of effect that Strength in Dumbers, the record, has on listeners. The music is like a hurricane that swirls in and ransacks your room. Vocalist Arun Singh Ravi screams in the manner of a sergeant at an army camp barking instructions. And the lyrics dish out profanities like a man dressed as Santa Claus handing gifts to a line of children. This isn't music for the faint-hearted. Instead, you need to have a cast-iron disposition to digest it.
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Just take a look at what the five short songs talk about. Therapist paints the picture of two men who enter a woman's house to outrage her modesty, only to find out that she's a trained mercenary who kicks their backsides. Your love songs takes the international banking system to the cleaners, accusing them of covertly funding terror operations. Untitled lays bare hypocrisies based on caste and religion, while Insects is a Kafkaesque track. The final song, Muslim dudes on bikes, is a sign of our times. The protagonist in it is a man from a minority community zipping through the city on his motorcycle, yelling, "After all the oppression that we've faced/ After all the lies the majority spreads/ I just want to get on my bike/ And light these streets on fire tonight."
It's almost like a punch in the guts, this album. Ravi tells us, "Sometimes, the world gets you to a point where you just want to break something. Punk rock is the music that plays in the background while you're doing that." Indeed it is, and if you, too, feel that the system needs to be grabbed by the neck and given a solid shake, listen to Strength in Dumbers. And keep that vase of roses handy while at it.
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