CD reviews: Jack Johnson – Sleep Through The Static – Issue 68

The title of Jack Johnson’s latest sleepwalk couldn’t be more apt. I know he’s supposed to be a nice guy and he loves Kiwi audiences as much as he loves our surf, but heck this thing’s boring.

I guess people find this kind of low-key singer-songwriter thing relaxing, but I had to take it off while attempting a romantic dinner. After a while the whole album does start to sound like static, because it’s just made of relatively few parts, a narrow sound spectrum, and pretty much never changes its tone or tempo.

If you loved the last Jack Johnson album, here’s his new one, get it while you can. But personally, I think he’s a sloppy old passion killer.

Gary Steel

Sleep Through The Static
FROM: Bushfire/Universal/US
STYLE: Soporific surfer
MUSIC: 2/5
SOUND: 3/5