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Jack Johnson's debut album Brushfire Fairytales is beginning to receive mainstream exposure thanks to triple-A radio airplay for "Flake." However, as  is sometimes the case, the airplay track is only one piece of a cohesive and well-realized whole.  "Flake," featuring some slide guitar from Ben Harper (a major influence on Johnson), is a typically pensive mid-tempo tune with the simple yet effective, why-didn't-I-think-of-that chorus: "It seems to me that maybe/Pretty much always means no/So don't tell me/You might just let it go."  While typical of the rest of the album, it's only a starting point.

As in "Flake," Johnson's lyrics are often bittersweet, always heartfelt, thoughtful, and literate (indeed, "Inaudible Melodies" briefly references Plato's Allegory of the Cave).  A personal favorite line, for instance, is a playful dig at a certain cable channel in "Posters": "I'm a superficial, systematic music television addict/Check out my outsides, there ain't nothing in here."  His soulful and expressive voice is reminiscent of two artists to whom he is often compared: the aforementioned Harper and Dave Matthews. Sonically, the album spotlights Johnson's voice and his usually acoustic guitar, with understated bass and percussion providing support. While the sparseness of the music is noticeable, it doesn't feel like anything is missing.  Instead, its subtlety creates an intimacy that lets Johnson's words and voice take center stage.

Before getting into music, Johnson was a well-known professional surfer, so the relaxed, sunny-afternoon-with-your-buddies vibe that one might expect is present throughout the album, especially on tracks like the upbeat "Mudfootball" and "Bubble Toes."  Or, as Johnson himself puts it on the laidback "Inaudible Melodies," "Slow down, everyone, you're movin' too fast."  Even his more serious songs, like "The News," still maintain a mellow buoyancy and optimism that makes Brushfire Fairytales a serious contender for the summer album of 2002, and a great one in any season.

Matthew Luter 6/2/2002