Everything’s Gonna Be Alright musically
At the height of their popularity, Little Feat had six members. Likewise, the Grateful Dead hovered at around six members for much of their career.
Handsome Jack is a trio from Lockport, New York, and with half the members of either the aforementioned bands, they manage to produce a sound that could rival or replace either.
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright is the title of their upcoming album, scheduled for release on October 19th from Alive Naturalsound records. The fact that this album was produced by Ben McLeod of All Them Witches is the first hint that the band and its music is something special.
Describing the music of Handsome Jack is a bit like describing a good jambalaya. There are some very recognizable main components, but also a complex array of other influences; a dash of this, a hint of that, all of it very necessary to create the precise result so that ultimately it is easier to just call jambalaya, “jambalaya.”
And Handsome Jack? American rock music, baby, through and through.American rock music. That implies, quite correctly, elements of blues and soul, some boogie and a host of “secret ingredients” gleaned from the sounds of Chicago, Memphis and Muscle Shoals.
Rolling Stone has likened the band to early Black Crows, an apt comparison, but I stand by own assessment, at least as far as this album goes. By the time I was three songs in, I found myself looking for Tennessee Jed and Dixie Chicken.
To be perfectly clear, nothing about Handsome Jack is derivative. The point in my comparisons is that these guys inhabit the same musical space and, frankly, could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with those older classic bands.
That being said, there is one striking difference, one I consider a positive. Everything’s Gonna Be Alright is free of the extended musical jams that were a signature of some of the band’s predecessors.
I am certain the band is more than capable, and in the right time and place I’d wager they indulge live audiences with extended versions of tunes, but the album itself demonstrates a control and restraint that makes for a much punchier and more dynamic collection.
There are eleven tracks altogether, each one a winner, but certain tracks leap out in a “hot damn, listen to this” sort of way including my personal favorite, track two, “City Girls”.
Big, lush, bluesy guitars and a relaxed, head-bobbing rhythm section combined with laid back, “front porch” vocals combine to make for a friendly, relaxed “Cripple Creek” kind of jam that single-handedly made me fall in love with the group.
If “laid back” describes track two (it does) then the title track, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” demonstrates the band’s ability to be dirty/nasty/grungy with a ripping bluesy tune that is far more complex than any run of the mill blues song. In essence, this one track is the perfect showcase of the genuine badassery of each of the players.
The band is Handsome Jack, a phenomenal power trio with serious classic bona fides. The album is Everything’s Gonna Be Alright and it is the perfect representation of what this extraordinarily talented band of musicians is capable of.
The band and their music is well-worth your time and comes with as high a recommendation as I can offer.