'Voice Of Flinders Street Station' Fronts Melbourne Rock Band Sordid Ordeal, Drops New Track 'Black Straps'

In case you didn’t know already, Melbourne’s local hero Laurence Hewson – the “Voice of Flinders Street Station” fronts a rock band called Sordid Ordeal.

Yep, the train station assistant who you can hear over the station microphone saying things like “The Upfield line is shutting its doors, this train must simply go … like a Persian rug in a warehouse, it is simply walking out the door” (per The Age) who went viral at the end of last year and was later interviewed by numerous Australian publications and television stations, including ABC, SBS The Herald Sun, Sunrise and 9 News.

But when he’s not working at Flinders Street Station, he’s rocking stages and working on music with the band.

Today, Sordid Ordeal released their new single, Black Straps, a blues-influenced rock number that will guarantee headbangs ahead of the release of their debut album, When I Left Town, on Friday, 16 February. Check out the single below.

While none of his Flinders Street Station comedic announcements make it to their new song, you can watch Hewson in his more famous role via TikTok.

@voiceofflindersstation

Another Revs reference, is he trying to tell us something? #revs #revolverupstairs #voiceofflindersstation #flindersstreetstation #melbourne #naarm #narrm

♬ original sound - Voice of Flinders Station - Voice of Flinders Station

@voiceofflindersstation

A Festivus for the rest of us!!! Who's your favourite @Seinfeld character? Frank Costanza has to be up there! #seinfeld #jerryseinfeld #frankcostanza #festivus #voiceofflindersstation #flindersstreetstation #melbourne #naarm #narrm

♬ original sound - Voice of Flinders Station - Voice of Flinders Station

Sordid Ordeal pull influences from Australian rock and roll royalty Skyhooks, AC/DC and The Saints. Their debut LP has been described as the first of a two-part coming-of-age story in a press release, with the band creating a semi-autobiographical account of Hewson’s life.

From moving from the country to the big city – from Wagga Wagga to Melbourne’s laneways – the album’s songs are set against the turbulent and changing political, social and cultural backdrop of Howard and Rudd-era Australia.

The album also follows Hewson as he goes from being a sheltered yet insatiable teenager surrounded by family and religion to finding a life packed with colour and surprises in Melbourne. When I Left Town was recorded and produced over a five-year period and utilised a 12-piece choir, a brass ensemble, a string quintet and a Celtic band.

You can pre-order When I Left Town here.

On his viral “Voice of Flinders Street Station” reputation, Hewson told The Age about his reasons for “going a bit off-script”: “It snaps people out of autopilot a bit. They’re like: ‘Did I just hear that correctly?’ Then they’re a little bit more aware of their surroundings because it’s not the snooze-fest that it was before.”

Sordid Ordeal certainly don’t offer a snooze-fest either.