Words by Stephen Shelverton
Photography by Lachlan Neil | @Lachlan_neil
Hoon, Hoon… Hoon, I bloody love HOON! Might as well get that declaration off my chest, as I do burnouts up Brunswick Street to their new album ‘SPEED AND FATIGUE’ blaring out the window. It is blatantly obvious this review has a heavily weighted bias towards the wild kings from Wollongong, and the wobbly-long glorious mayhem they deliver, in crunchy, loud, and maniacal form.
Hoon is: Daniel Breda (hella vox), James Andrews (horned bassist) Kyle Gordon (male model on drums), and Orion Jarvis (Mustang taming axe-wielder).
I caught up with the Hoons of Hoon infamy, Breda and James, post line check, to share an honest review of the 2025 Album ‘Speed and Fatigue’ where I stated: “I honestly did not think you would be able to outdo the 2020 Album ‘Australian Dream’, as that album was just that bloody solid, but you have, in fact …blown it away!” Both of them were happy and pleasantly surprised to hear this review, but it really is that good, with personal favourites being: Rinsed, trainspotting, Simon Says, Do It, Hot Shot and the blunt up-front warning of Pay Your Tick.
How do you make a good album a great album? Easy, get Mikey Young to master it, and that’s the industry Midas touch guarantee. ‘Speed and Fatigue’ is a ripping album, give it a listen or even better, buy it from their merch stands and ask them to sign it. Mine has a bonus signature from Polly of Mitch, Please for no apparent reason, other than extra comedic sentimental value!
The venue: Soaking up the Pre-show ambience in the epicentre of style (AKA PFR LOUNGE), is as The Commodores would suggest, “Easy as Sunday Morning”, or in this case, a cool August Friday evening. Robert Anderson’s suave and pristinely run venue is adorned in a visual display of cross continental punk moments and movements, with the walls dripping in decorations to perfection, all the way up to the pressed tin ceiling, across to sparkling dimly lit chandeliers, leading down to the New York Subway phone booth that boasts a direct hotline to Joey Ramone Place at 325 Bowery NYC.
PFR celebrated its maiden anniversary last month as a haven for artists and punters alike, meeting their needs in la nouvelle Vague for the thriving modern punk resistance community. The bar is always shoulder to shoulder with people being regaled by Rob’s charismatic stories, and the New York-style tables squishily packed by punters arm in arm, also armed with strong social consciousness. Punters all laughing and smiling, with a frosty bevy in hand before they pile into the corridor-shaped gig room next door. After The Tote, this is my local.
Fast Johnny and the Slow Burners – photos by Lachlan Niel | @Lachlan_neil
The gig: There is a multitude of Aussie bands that I am befuddled are not yet household names, two of which are at PFR tonight: Hoon and Fast Johnny and The Slow Burners (FJATSB).
I’ve seen FJATSB perform more times than the superstar frontman himself (Jorge aka Swellbows), well…maybe! There is a good reason they have supported every decent punk band that blows into the river city. The trio delivers a tachycardia swagger with consistently sweet rock ’n roll bites. Salutes to the Sound engineer tonight, the sound mix was perfecto! The compression and bottom bass was more streamlined than a 1976 HJ Monaro, perfectly capturing the bass rock groove of prodigal son Lyndsay now making his 10th first show appearance (inside joke as it’s always Lyndsay’s first appearance according to Ryan on drums).
Jorge’s gold hoop earring reflected the joy in the faces of fans before him in the crowd, as punters lip synched and swayed to all their songs. This is no doubt a pleasing return on the effort of playing so many gigs. Self-Depreciation, Dog Eat Dog, Aint Slowin down always get my gammy knees moving in ways they probably shouldn’t, there is no point resisting after all; “Rock n roll ruined my life, and I’d do it all again!” Jorge croons as a reminder of my fate.
Look out for their gig at The Tote in the Upstairs band room on 14th November. The professionalism, dedication to the grind, and development of precision has moulded this trio to be a headline act in festivals in the future.
Shock Value – photos by Lachlan Niel | @Lachlan_neil
I was disappointed to be disappointed again (yet not shocked) that Frontman George was not in attendance for the Shock Value set. Luckily, guitarist and key-smith Aaron utilised his versatility from his sister band Piss Off to take up vox duties, with impromptu support from loyal friends Heavy Liquid in the crowd joining him on stage to don instruments. This enabled a hot seat shuffle between band members to perform a hasty medley of Piss Off, Shock Value, and Heavy Liquid tracks.
The regularity of Shock Value squandering opportunities irks me dead, especially when there is a brigade of willing bands on the Brisbane scene to absorb such a coveted support spot. Out of respect for the band members present, I offer my strongest regards to their upcoming European tour. When Shock Value are locked in, it’s something else altogether, and well worth seeing them living up to their name’s sake.
Hoon – photos by Lachlan Niel | @Lachlan_neil
The crowd was heaving for Hoon, and my notes were all intact up until they started. According to the set list, it started out with Crows, an instrumental wind up for the show ahead, and showcase of Orion’s guitar freedom, and Kyle‘s expression to explore.
The Hoon V8 shifted a gear and revealed its steroid-enhanced muscle with U R WAT U EAT, and we see Breda’s twinkle toes thrash dance techniques. My friend Vic said, “He dances like Peter Garett and Peter Pan on speed!” And we love it! One song down, and Breda is in amongst the crowd already. This is one of the perks of having a dedicated vox in a four-piece.
I lost myself in an Australian Dream “Pull your socks up, put your boots on buddy!” The truth is, I’m older than everyone in the venue, with peanuts as knee caps and permanent tintis; however, that song was immediately followed by the infamous Acab, therefore my age or arthritic joints are no longer relevant as the crowd thrashes on a turbo burst of nitrous at top speed with Breda.
Hoon tracks crash into the mosh like a stinking cattle track on a melting highway in summer, it’s going to take you places and override your senses. An example of this was seeing gig regular ‘Joey’ held up high on a makeshift throne above the mosh, laughing with a beer in his hand to deliver a blessing upon the Pagan group beneath him, all before being unceremoniously dumped onto the floor below. He rolled away like a stunt performer, then burst up, roaring Rinsed lyrics into Breda’s mic! “Rinsed raw, rinsed ra…aw…aww!”
Hoon – photos by Lachlan Niel | @Lachlan_neil
A mid set drum repair was required, someone requested an allen key — FJATSB drummer solved it, declaring no, they need a “Ryan Keys!”. Ryan stayed up to sing along for the next song, too. My favourite photo on my reel from the night was of Ryan and Breda, both wearing their Hoon hoodies wrapped in smiles. Ryan wears his Hoon hoody all year round — he loves the shit out of HOON!
Now would be the appropriate time to describe Kyle’s thundering drum builds, the staggering lightning bolt zaps from Orion’s 97 red Mustang, and James’s hyped-up, juicy, thick bass lines that dwell deep within his woollen devil horns. Alas, I lost the first point of being a music journo — Stand back, observe, take notes. I was so preoccupied with my community of punks, destined to lose our voices and shatter our spines, all gaining another core memory of Hoon in the process. So, sorry I slipped up on the assignment…and had a blast doing it, I regret nothing!
The set closed on the star of the album Simon Says, which I may have cheekily requested to be played on Roberts’ 4ZZZ show 12 hours earlier. Robert deduced the surreptitiousness of my subliminal ploy. My motives were to summon a herd of Hoons, just like the school yard game Simon Says, except my aim was for punters to put their foot down and drift at speed into the Hoon gig at PFR that evening.
For those that did succumb, we are now motion sick and elated from the ‘Speed and Fatigue’ of our beloved Hoon, and you can be too…
Hoon – photos by Lachlan Niel | @Lachlan_neil
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