Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales

Fans of Willy Porter, Ben Harper, and G. Love will all want to check out Jack Johnson's engaging folk- and blues-inflected pop. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Johnson, a former surfer and film-school graduate, has a knack for acoustic ballads whose calm surfaces hide a subtle but strong lyrical undertow. "It seems to me that 'maybe' pretty much always means 'no,'" sings Johnson on "Flake," which features crony Harper on slide guitar. Production by J.P. Plunier (who also handles Harper's recordings) is simple and uncluttered: acoustic guitar and drum tracks share the foreground with Johnson's easygoing vocals, which evoke everyone from G. Love (who recorded Johnson's "Rodeo Clowns" on his Philadelphonic album) to Nick Drake to Willy Porter. And while Johnson may not have Porter's guitar chops, these songs have a relaxed beauty and understated depth that reward repeated listening. -Bill Forman.

1) Inaudible Melodies
2) Middle Man
3) Posters
4) Sexy Plexi
5) Flake
6) Bubble Toes
7) Fortunate Fool
8) News the
9) Drink the Water
10) Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)
11) F-Stop Blues
12) Losing Hope
13) It's All Understood