Handsome Jack: Barnburners Review

On February 6th, blues/roots rock power trio Handsome Jack release Barnburners, their sixth album, from Alive Naturalsound Records. Handsome Jack is made up of three killer blues players: Jamison Passuite on guitar and lead vocals, Joey Verdonselli on bass, and Bennie Hayes on drums (with both Verdonselli and Hayes providing backing vocals). Bottom line up front, Barnburners is Handsome Jack’s best work to date. The record is a prime example of swamp and roots-infused blues rock right in the comfort zone (as strange as it seems to call a band from New York “swampy”).

The structure of the album is impressive, with the opening, middle, and end all anchored with the strongest and most fun tracks, with the spaces between occupied by perfectly respectable numbers. Barnburners is without a doubt a no-skips record, but a few songs are just transcendent. 

Let’s work our way backwards for fun: “Ghost Woman,” the closer, is not only the strongest song on the record, it’s also the best song Handsome Jack has put out, and maybe a top 5 blues rock song I’ve heard in the last couple years. “Ghost Woman’ carries a spooky swamp rock ballad vibe that evokes the frightening and seductive power of the archetypal witchy woman. The best compliment I can pay: it feels like Halloween.

The middle of the record is firmly tent-poled by two standouts: “It’s Only Business,” a classic-feeling old school blues number that weaves thematically between relationship woes and social ills, and “Do It! To It!,” a real honkytonk banger made for rocking in a sawdust-y dance hall.

Other songs on Barnburners bear mentioning for solid 12-bar goodness, trance-building groove, and anthemic party spirits as well: “Poly Polly,” “I’m Hooked,” and “Let’s Go Downtown” all add their own flavor to an already stacked record. There’s nothing wrong with the other tracks, “Blues Falls Motel,” “Polk Salad Annie,” and “Tonight We Ride,” they just don’t jump out and grab the listener by the collar the way the rest of the album does.

Handsome Jack is fully at its peak with Barnburners, the album delivers exactly what the title promises: hit after hit. The blending of roots, folk, swamp blues, and ‘70s-style classic rock blend excellently here. Barnburners is a damn good way for blues rockers to kick off 2026.

The Review: 9/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Barnburner
– It’s Only Business
– Do It! To It!
– Ghost Woman

The Big Hit

– Ghost Woman