LISTEN UP

Jack Johnson-Brushfire Fairytales
Music Review by Brian Keith

Listen Up Music Review
Jack Johnson-Brushfire Fairytales
by Brian Keith, KPC Student

Jack Johnson wasn't an artist that I was expecting to like. I saw the album cover of a man standing in the rain, and thought "This is either really clever, or really stupid." Closed minded, I know, and you should never judge a book by its cover, but sometimes that honestly does work with music. The only other information that I had on Jack Johnson was the fact that his single, "Flake" was being played about once every 12 minutes on the radio. To some people, this can be a sure sign that they'll enjoy an artist. I mean, everybody else likes it, so it must be good, right? But to me, when a band gets that much airtime, they tend to get watered down, and eventually everybody has a strange sense of guilt for enjoying an artists' music simply because of their overwhelming popularity. We've all been there. Sometimes bands become so big that they simply become a parody of themselves, but some people are so fiercely loyal to their music that they simply become closet fans, secret defenders of their favorite artists. Jack Johnson, plain and simple, does not apply to this trend.

Fans of the Dave Mathews Band, John Mayer, or even Norah Jones would probably enjoy Jack Johnson. There has been a recent surge in the sort of mellow, almost jazzy sort of pop music, and great songwriting is something that they all have in common. The choruses are solid, the ideas are real, and the lyrics are honest.

Brushfire Fairytales is a very intimate, quiet little album that is very full of deceptively deep lyrics and themes. Jack's guitar playing style is very rhythmic and mellow, with obvious influences in blues and reggae. Jack Johnson's drummer, Adam Topple, studied conga beats in Cuba for a while, and attended the Berklee school of Music for 3 years, and even played for G. Love and Special Sauce. Not only are most of the songs good (sometimes this album is just too mellow), but the album feels complete. It's not one of those albums where you want to skip back and forth between your favorite songs. You'd fee like you were somehow cheating with Brushfire Fairytales. It must be fully experienced in order to be really appreciated. Jacks new album will be out in May, so keep you're eyes open and pick this one up if you haven't already.