It’s a little unfair to call Jackson and the Janks’ music old-fashioned. Though, honestly, that’s exactly what it is. But that’s too vague. It doesn’t feel as prudish as that catch-all people born after the year 2000 sometimes throw around.
The twangy guitar and slightly overdriven, whiskey-soaked vocals brighten the ’50s blues-based rock ‘n’ roll spotlighting Jackson Lynch’s voice and songwriting. Bereft of a bass player, the low end is held down with massive honking, deep rumbling sax work. On the band’s most recent record, Write It Down (2025), the horns are embellished further with trombone flair. The personnel for both brass and drums split duties, leaving Lynch as the center-stage linchpin.
There’s no question that many tracks from this combo sound so believably vintage that it’s difficult to accept you’re not listening to a cover. Take for instance “Stumblin’,” the opening song from the band’s 2022 self-titled release. Dripping in slow-dance romantic crooning, it’s brimming with twinkling chime arpeggios, and forces the listener to pause and take in a tearjerking pedal steel à la Santo & Johnny’s 1959 hit “Sleep Walk.” Indeed, the melody hits so immediately and ghosts so memorably that it feels lifted from some minor top 40 success I just can’t put my finger on.
What I can confirm with video evidence online is that the New York band often plays out as a trio or quartet, with Lynch leading a saxophone player, pedal steel player, and drummer. The beats and the overall feel would not sound out of place coming from the doorway of a small club on New Orleans’ Frenchmen Street. Despite the fact that a few of the players are reportedly NOLA mainstay musicians, you can imagine dance floors gently pulsing to most of these numbers. And while, yes, it’s much easier to envision retro-minded hep cats in rockabilly threads cutting loose to Jackson and the Janks, those people don’t have exclusive rights to get down to the healing power of good upbeat blues.
