Son Rompe Pera, The Marimba-Punks From Naucalpan, To Play Coachella 2024

You definitely read that right- a band fronted by the three Gama brothers and their marimba, that fuses multi-hued Cumbia with punk in a way that on paper seems impossible but once you see them and know them is the definition of life itself, a band from Naucalpan, Estado de México, is playing Coachella.

Son Rompe Pera, born and raised in Naucalpan (the outskirts of Mexico City), essentially started when their father, Batuco, who taught them marimba, would drag them to play at weddings, quinceañeras, and birthday parties. They ended up rejecting the marimba altogether (an un-cool instrument), leaning heavily into punk- but they eventually came full-circle, returning to the marimba, and bringing punk with them. The marimba quickly became a vehicle of revival and innovation- elevating traditional cumbia songs into realms unheard of before.

In 2016, after their father was killed in an act of local violence, the brothers nearly gave up on music until a chance meeting with the legendary Chilean cumbia group Chico Trujillo changed everything. They headed to Chile where they made their first album, Batuco, which was released in 2020.

Though a pandemic rocked the world shortly after, the band stopped for nothing, taking to the streets and playing to the world stuck inside. In 2021, the band took to the world's stages and hasn't stopped since- touring California with Panteon Rococó, playing the Lincoln Center in New York City, selling out Mexico City's Lunario, touring Europe for two months straight.

In 2023, they released their second album, Chimborazo, via AYA Records, which they recorded in Bogotá, Colombia with Mario Galeano of Frente Cumbiero at the helm. Chimborazo flips the script on their first album, delivering 12 original tracks that blend modern Cumbia, tropical dance beats, hard-hitting punk, psychedelic guitars, traditional Mexican and Colombian rhythms, horns and a pinch of dub and hip hop (listen to Chimborazo here).

In their endless spin across the globe, Son Rompe Pera will be making an historic stop at Coachella this April 12+19. Rest assured- the desert will never be the same after this one.