Hoon Rage About Escaping Negative Attention and Abuse at the Hands of the Law on “ACAB”

Hoon, photo courtesy the artists

A “hoon” is a person that drives a vehicle in a reckless and dangerous manner or simply a hooligan in general. Not necessarily a bogan but the identities aren’t mutually exclusive. So a band adopting the name HOON might embrace the terms the way punks did and to that effect the Australian band ahead of the release of its debut studio album Australian Dream has released the video for its song “ACAB.” It starts off with some choice graffiti imagery and gives way to a relentless and pointed fusion of punk and noise rock with the joy and menace intermingled. Bursts of distorted guitar splay and gouges of rhythm over the course of little more than two minutes like a deconstructed Dead Kennedys come up through the grunge era is the perfect setting for a song about what the title suggests. There are marginalized groups (ethnic minorities, the indigenous etc.) in most societies that garner attention from police forces by their very existence and anyone who has ever run afoul of the law often ends up in the system and it can be challenging at best to get out despite your best efforts otherwise and to avoid attention and abuse by the agents of enforcement. Channeling that frustration and anger into a song is a classic worldwide and Hoon’s song is an especially potent, cathartic and to the point example of that spirit. Watch the video for “ACAB” on YouTube and follow the band from Wollongong, Australia at the links below.

Hoon on Facebook

Hoon on Bandcamp

Hoon on Instagram

wearehoon.com

Author: simianthinker

Editor, primary content provider for this blog. Former contributor to Westword and The Onion.