What We’ve Been Listening To: Hoon

Hoon’s debut album ‘Australian Dream’ – produced, mixed, and mastered by Clayton Segelov at The Brain Recording Studios – is a potent blend of raucous, distorted punk record that captures the band’s frenzied live performances and chaotic songwriting. With 11 tracks that delve into the complexities of modern life in Australia, ‘Australian Dream’ is a whirlwind journey through the influences of 90s rock pioneers, surf punk thrillers, and dynamic progressive ballads.

The band’s ability to create hook-laden romps is evident in their singles ‘Acab‘, ‘Propane‘, and ‘Fried‘, which showcase their prowess in creating shouting gang vocals, shrieking guitars, and rabid drums. But it’s not just their energy that sets Hoon apart, it’s how the album’s production by Clayton Segelov is impeccable, capturing every nuance of the band’s sound and giving each instrument its own distinct space to shine. The vocals are raw and visceral, perfectly capturing the angst and frustration of the album’s themes.

Lyrically, the ‘Australian Dream’ record explores Australian culture and politics, consumerism, love, toxic masculinity, mental and physical health, and growth into adulthood. The intensity of the music is often coupled with sarcasm, humour, and irreverence, creating a lightness in the face of the complex world we all navigate. Accompanying the album is the music video for the title track ‘Australian Dream’, a hilarious odyssey following a shark head as it experiences the highs and lows of Australia. Originally adorning the walls of a fish and chip shop in the Northern suburbs of Wollongong, the band’s creativity shines through in every aspect of their work.

‘Australian Dream’ is a stunning debut from Hoon, showcasing their ability to create a frenzied punk rock that doesn’t sacrifice depth or nuance. With a sound that frequently skirts the line between maniacal and total mayhem, Hoon is a band that demands attention and have taken the time out of their day to answer a couple of questions for Eat This Music as part of the “What We’ve Been Listening To” series.

Who is HOON and how did the namesake come about?

Hello, we are Hoon. Despite popular belief, Hoon is an all-purpose descriptive word. When we first started playing together as a nameless rock group, we always used Hoon to describe well anything like how fuck and cunt are used in Australian vernacular. When we got asked to play a show for the first time, we just chucked down Hoon because it was said so often and we needed something quick because the show was that night, we were a last-second fill-in. After that, we got a bunch of other show offers so the name pretty well just stayed Hoon.

What artists or bands are on your must-listen to list lately and why?

We’re guessing you mean a list for other people and not for ourselves here. We dunno, there’s a lot of really good Australian music getting released all the damn time. It’s a wild post-Covid world we’re living in now. The tunes are pumping out of Australia faster than Lantana in a veggie patch. For us, we’re tapping into all the good punk and indie releases that bands/artists like Dr Sures, PF, Crocodylus, Mouse, C.O.F.F.I.N, Vintage Crop, Mini Skirt and Supersoakerr have been pushing out in the last year or so to list few. All the releases slap, and they slap even harder live.

When you go into the recording studio to work on new material, what are your must-haves?

Instruments LOL. Nah, I dunno. Breda was drinking this ridiculous homemade throat syrup stuff that he concocted to get through singing for such a long, though short time period in terms of days anyway. It was like, basically a chunky soup filled with lemon, ginger and garlic and god knows what else. He was taking shots of it from some peasant takeaway container the whole time. Seemed to work though right, so maybe that’s the new must-have.

Which song, or songs, of yours would you recommend to a first-time listener and why?

Probably just listen to FRIED because it’s new and exciting for us and new and exciting for you. If you’re into reverse chronology this will work for you very well so double points. If you’re into that try ACAB and then Propane for the full preview of the album.

Which song of someone else’s (artist or band) would you have liked to feature on and why?

James is really good at scatting, I reckon he could have harmonised well in Freak On a Leash. MMmnbopddadooah. Same goes for that Hanson mmbop duuop. He’d nailed them both.

What led you into using music as your creative outlet, and keeps you making music?

For us all it varies but is centred around thinking music was cool, wanting to rock, and having family members that played music. Kyle’s grandad has some kind of Country music fame. His name is Terry Gordon. Breda’s grandad also sung Country music, and he has some awards but he’s not as popular as Mr Gordon. Maybe we should be playing country music instead. It seems like it’s in the bloodline.