James Hagan
Published: March 3 2004
A new local band is poised to bring an adrenaline shot of hard rock to the Gulf Coast.
‘Jack’s Smirking Revenge’ (yes, it’s a reference to the movie ‘Fight Club’), comprised of John Swanger (guitar), Jason Strickland (guitar), Jason Urban (drums), Brent Condon (bass) and Joe Urban (vocals, guitar and bass) played a raucous set in front of an enthusiastic crowd at their debut show Feb. 7 at the Handlebar.
The band officially formed in October off the heels of Condon’s band, The Metastatics, breaking up.
“Brent, Joe and I were all in a side project called the Superfriends when we heard the news of the Metastatics disbanding. Brent mentioned that he was already writing new music with John and Jason. I mentioned that if he needed a drummer that I would be more than happy to play for them,” said Jason Urban, who also drums for Cockfight.
“Jason was the logical solution. After that, things just kind of clicked,” Condon said.
Joe Urban joined the band a short time later after quitting Cogito.
“Joe is just an amazing musician all around and we figured there was no way he could hurt the band,” Condon said.
Initially, Joe Urban only was supposed to sing. After the debut show, however, it was decided he would play guitar as well.
Jason Urban described the band’s songwriting as a feeling out process.
“It’s always been about music first and vocals last. Sometimes, someone has a riff they want to try out, or sometimes, someone starts playing something on the fly and we all join in. I think only two of our songs have come from stuff two or more people worked out on their own. The rest of our material is just jammed out on the spot and we figure it out from there. But, I would honestly say that all of us write the music,” Condon said.
“Usually, the basis for a song comes from Swanger or Strickland, but I’ve got full so