The Jacks At Barracuda In Austin

Every member of The Jacks probably dresses better than you, and they definitely have better hair, but they’re more than just LA pretty boys. They perform with a polished yet energetic precision. Not missing a beat during their shows even when they manage to kick over two beers onstage. They just keep going, as any good rock band should.

The Jacks, comprised of Jonny Stanback (vocals and rhythm guitar), Tom Hunter (lead guitar), Scott Stone (bass), and Josh Roossin (drums), have had a busy couple months. Since the last time we talked in September, they’ve been on one five-week tour that took them from LA to Chicago and is now embarking on another with Ohio’s Harbour and fellow Californians, Hate Drugs.

The September tour was their first extended tour, “We’ve done a couple tours where we just string together a couple shows, but that one we had two anchor points and then just filled in some dates from there” said Josh.

The band actually got the email inviting them on the current tour while they were still in the middle of the last one, and even had to join the other bands a few days late due to an already booked show in Orange County. “We had to wait wait wait, play the show on Saturday and then catch up with everyone out here two days later,” said Tom.

Their show at the Barracuda in Austin showed no signs of fatigue. The night started with a chill set from Austin’s Clarence James but escalated quickly with Harbour and Hate Drugs playing highly energetic indie rock.

The Jacks rounded out the night with a mix of released and unreleased music. Even though the Tuesday night crowd was small, they played as if it were to a sold-out room and their energy rubbed off on the audience. Everyone was nodding their heads to the beat Josh, and Scott was keeping steadily. Their driving rhythm allowed Tom to deliver soaring solos that elicited cheers from the crowd. Jonny’s voice stayed clear and powerful throughout but really stood out during “Just A Little Bit” which is the first song they released last year.

They are enjoying the uptick in activity, and are blown away by the support they have been receiving in the cities they are playing for the first time, “We’ve had people drive four hours to come to shows, and at Aftershock in Sacramento we had this group of 18-year-olds who wanted us to sign their shirts, which was wild,” said Jonny.

With a fairly limited online catalog, the band is grateful that people will go out of their way to come to shows. “I think that’s one of the best things that happens cause we don’t have that many songs online right now, I mean we only have five songs on Spotify, so I think our biggest advantage that we’ve had is just playing live and people seem to respond to that,” said Scott.

The band has plans to record more in January and release a full album sometime next year.