Their next song starts out so slowly and sluggishly – with the bass down-tuned so incredibly low, and the snare drum echoing so metallically – that this song would not seem out of place on the soundtrack for the classic FPS video game “DOOM”; which used to scare the hell out of me. This is not a song you would want to listen to late at night at home all alone, unless you are a fan of horror movies. Then, the singer’s voice comes through once again, singing lyrics that sounds like, “death was difficult”. Afterwards, the band picks up the tempo, but it’s still fairly nightmarish in tone. More high-pitched “oooh” vocals ride over top of the mix, as an insanely distorted guitar solos like the player is trying to break their instrument. As this latest track comes to an end, the vocalist once again voices a gentle, high-pitched “arigatou!”.

Song three starts out with chiming guitars strummed once on the downbeat of every second bar, while the vocalist sings gently overtop; managing to sound a bit like Björk. A swell of feedback then enters the fray once more, and we are back in a whirlwind of distortion. At one point, the composition gets quieter, reduced to gentle chiming guitar, snare rolls and the lead singer’s vocals, and it becomes pretty; like a childhood love story. After a two-minute passage of near silence (the players’ volumes being so low) the drummer clicks his sticks together twice, and the whole band is raging like an angry cyclone of distorted 16th notes, in 8/8 time. Two minutes into that section, the vocalist launches back into her high-pitched “ooh” vocals, then steps back from the mic in order to rock out more with the band, on her Telecaster. As the song cuts to a halt, the lead vocalist once again offers the crowd a gentle “arigatou,” and receives cheers in response.

She then thanks the crowd for staying until the end, as if she can’t believe that they did. The last song starts in a swell of feedback which dies down before a heavily distorted picking pattern emerges. A heavy hiphop beat then joins the fray, and it is in turn joined by a heavy, incredibly loud bass. And, once again, the vocalist’s trademark high-pitched “ooh-ahh”s are heard repeatedly. The song then shifts into a section where all instrumentalists collectively beat each beat of every measure as if to punish it for existing. And then, the song ends suddenly with feedback and static. The few hundred people in attendance applaud enthusiastically with their hands over their heads, and one person in particular continues to clap for a whole minute after the band has left the stage.

Rookie a Go Go is a stage that typically features a lot of young bands banging out hard, bands who are cutting their teeth and finding their sound. Hoon felt different, like a band who knew their own identity and knew just what kind of sound they wanted for themselves. This vibe was a lot more subtle than most bands, jazzy without being brassy, technical without being showy. They seemed like a band confident enough not to have to resort to gimmicks, which is somewhat of a rarity for Rookie a Go Go. And also a rarity for a band that prominently features a harp.

While they may not have been what you would expect to see at Rookie a Go Go, they certainly were a delight. The crowd seemed to agree, giving the band a lot of the last lingering bit of energy they had before Sunday night drew to a close.

All dressed in orange polo shirts, the band took to the sweaty insides of the Café de Paris tent and brought an appropriate exotic vibe in their first song, which featured instruments such as a reed pipe from Laos called a khene and what may have been a kind of Thai lute called a sueng. With a troop of drummers, cymbal players and even one person on cowbell, there’s a lot going on, but it all coheres to create a fun and unusual performance. The band comes out on to the floor of Café de Paris twice and plays in front of the bar to the assembled crowd to much excitement, an act they pull at the end of the set as well to play out a good 10-minute number to finish.

The mix of traditional instruments and arrangements mixes up with slightly psychedelic vibe is an unusual and pleasing treat and hopefully has persuaded a few people to explore the mor lam music of Laos and Thailand, this writer included.