Right before the climax between Jack Burton and the evil sorcerer Lo Pan in the movie Big Trouble In Little China, Kurt Russell as the lead utters this gem: “Too many people around here been dropping like flies, and where’s that getting us, huh? Nowhere, fast. You know what Jack Burton always says at a time like this? Well, Ol’ Jack always says, ‘what the hell?’”

Then moments later Jack hurls a dagger right through Lo Pan’s skull ending that sorry sorcerer’s life. It’s a pretty sweet moment and arguably the best evil sorceror kill in film history. So what does that have to do with Athens band The Jack Burton? Nothing really, other than the fact that that both the character and the band slay — just in different ways. The band claims that “The Jack Burton is four dudes who keep it real casual while staying posi. They are down for whatever.”

In other words the band could be described as “posi-casual” according to band leader Brian Kindamo, but this only describes the band’s approach as a unit, because their music itself is far more abrasive than their “posi-casual” tag suggests. In fact The Jack Burton isn’t an easy band to categorize.

“We’re some kind of Indie Punk band or something, I’m not really sure, that’s a tough one.” Kindamo said. That’s about as far as an honest description of the band can go; some bands have a knack for effortlessly defying labels. You’ve heard The Jack Burton before and you haven’t heard anything like them, they grey area their music inhabits is a testament to the honest originality the band neither tries for or aspired to.

It just comes through in the music on its own, which is rare for a town with a glut of bands who come off as contrived or calculated. As far as the band’s own aspirations go, they’re minimal, or as Kindamo said, “We just wanna play, we just wanna do what we do. I dont think we have any ultimate goals, it would be awesome just to put out records and play shows, that’s our main concern”.

Indeed, the band has a new EP in the works, and a planned 7-inch split record with local band Pride Parade.

“We just want to have people go home from our shows feeling good and positive after they see us play,” Kindamo said. What more could anyone want out of a show? Well, maybe they could throw in a dead wizard to sweeten the deal, but whatever. Dead Wizards and some righteous rock and roll. Nothing more positive and good than that.