Jack Johnson- Sleep Through The Static

Brushfire Records 2008

9/10

Best Tracks:
Sleep Through The Static, Angel

Eighteen years ago a chill kid named Jack Johnson from the North Shore picked up a guitar and started playing. He proceeded to form a punk band with some of his friends. They called themselves The Limber Chickens. Music was always a love of his, but his first love was the ocean. Surfing continued to be the most important part of his young life and became a professional surfer at age 17. Just weeks after making a name for himself in the Pipeline Trials, he suffered a severe surfing accident and received 150 stitches.

This unfortunate accident had little effect on his love for surfing, but perhaps it would ultimately change the course of his life. During his recovery period, he became more in touch with his artistic nature. Music became an increasingly important component of the young man’s life.

Filmmaking aspirations ultimately lead him to leave the North Shore and head for California. Santa Barbara became a place where dreams came true for this Hawaiian native and he earned a film degree and UC-Santa Barbara. His newly acquired skills, plus his past life as a professional surfer landed him cult status among surf-documentary junkies worldwide. A chance meeting with Ben Harper in 1999 was the catalyst that would eventually launch the young man into iconical music stardom.

Now, lets fast forward 9 years, 2 major surfing documentary films, his own record label and 5 full-length albums later, Jack Johnson has became a testament to what someone can do when they follow their dreams.

Johnson’s highly anticipated 5^th album, Sleep Through The Static was recorded entirely by solar power in Jack’s house/studio in California. Many long-time fans of Johnson’s tunes can expect a similar style of chill surf-rock that has been displayed on Johnson’s previous albums. Static displays a gentle, spaced-out ambience that Johnson fans have come to expect. Jack has become a master of the use of instrumentation and production. This has slowly led to an evolution in craftsmanship with each progressive album Jack has released.

Jack has continued to add more and more instruments as each new progressive album has arrived. The influence of piano is heavy on the new album. Jack even plugs in for a few tracks, rocking out on his electric axe. Well, that is as much as he can rock out.

Lyrically speaking, Jack has lost none of his prowess on the new disc. Tracks are seeped with vivid imagery and dreamy-thought provoking lyrics. Some minor differences in song writing style that can be seen in Jack’s quasi-protest songs like “Sleep Through The Static”, “All At Once” and “They Do, They Don’t.” These songs show a songwriter expanding his universe beyond the sun and surf of the North Shore. If you’re a diehard Johnson fan don’t worry. He hasn’t sold out and gone political. You can still find plenty of songs about the sun, the surf and new questions that give us provocations to think about our lives and the world we live in.

Over the years Jack Johnson has held many titles: professional surfer, filmmaker, environmentalist and musician. So I guess the obvious question here is, what can’t Jack Johnson do?

Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static

-- Matt Brooks