Easier than trying to learn to surf:

Jack JohnsonSleep Through the Static6 out of 10It's a Tuesday night. You get home from work, tired and beat, and you're ready to pour yourself a drink. Do you reach for the bottle of red wine, or the peach schnapps? I liken Jack Johnson to peach schnapps; if the occasion calls for it, why not? But last time I checked, you would never pour yourself a glass of schnapps on any old day. I've found that Jack Johnson can put you in the mood. A really, really good mood. Although I've never been to his home state of Hawaii, his mellow, yellow, sunny music has led me to believe that every day there is like Sunday: a Sunday where you stay home and kick back on the porch with your favorite book and a tall glass of iced tea.I remember when Jack Johnson first appeared on the radio. I was in my last year of middle school, and I had never heard anything like it. Now I'm not a pronounced Jack Johnson fan, but I remember the very night I heard him on the mainstream rock radio outlet in Los Angeles, "the world famous K-ROQ." It was almost like a breath of fresh air, an easy, breezy sail away from the torrid waters of Linkin Park and, dare I say, Nickelback. The song was "Flake," and tired from staring at myself in the mirror for the past few hours, I got up and turned it up. Catchy, upbeat, and organic, it was a far cry from my angst-y, foreboding rock music, much less my black nail polish and Hot Topic get-up. I dug it although I knew that Daria would certainly not approve. As the years went by and the nail polish chipped off, my musical horizons expanded. It wasn't until Jack's third album, In Between Dreams, that I took note again. Hits like "Banana Pancakes" and "Sitting, Wishing, Waiting" showcased Jack Johnson's melody-making abilities while making routine stops onto my friends' iPods and as their ringback tones. He's always inoffensively and unobtrusively kept the beat going whilst others were slowly and permanently tuned out. Sleep Through the Static reminds us of why we like Jack Johnson: his wonderfully simplistic brand of acoustic pop music takes us away from the everyday mundane in the gentlest way imaginable. This said, he also mixes it up by making some unorthodox career moves, such as recording the soundtrack for Curious George. Although you don't catch too many people sporting Jack Johnson t-shirts, it's really hard to speak poorly of someone who keeps the kids in mind as well.Considering, Sleep Through the Static may be as deep, dark, and personal as Jack Johnson gets. It may also be the only album of its kind that you can listen the whole way through with a smile on your face. In fact, I've now literally slept through Sleep Through the Static, but that, of course, is a desired effect. "All at Once" opens the album only to find a hopelessly hopeful Johnson musing about the expendability of lyrics: "What about when it's gone?/ It really won't seem so long/ Sometimes a heart is no place to be singing from at all."Take a trip down memory lane with the title track and "If I Had Eyes," with their sublime acoustic melodies and warm vocals that harken back to previous albums. Songs such as "Angel," "Enemy," and "Same Girl" shine a more humanistic light on Johnson as a man, a protester, and a husband, both afflicted and blessed by the everyday matters of life. This new light reveals an even more stripped and somber approach to the arrangements; some of the songs feature just a single acoustic guitar. My favorite song by far is "Hope," with its bouncy hook teaching me that problems are pretty much universal. It works like a puzzle with the piano starting first, followed by a blunt acoustic guitar that's muted in between each strum. Slowly, the cymbals tip-toe, and then, all at once, the instruments are fitted together in harmony. The vocals jump in as the last puzzle piece. You can almost feel the sand between your toes as he hums, "At the end of a roll of delusion is a ghost waiting its turn."Despite it all, I found myself hitting the "next" button on my stereo more often than I would have liked. This album is less poppy than Brushfire Fairytales and In Between Dreams, although the stand-out tracks show he's got the fun and the sun still in him. Lyrically, however, Johnson has matured, writing about more realistic and tangible issues that people can relate to. Sadly, you won't catch the sequel to "Banana Pancakes" on this album; there are no breakfast foods listed as tracks.I played Sleep Through the Static in the car in traffic, and for every time I got cut off and for every finger I got, I simply blew kisses back. I think it's great that Jack Johnson continues to be able to produce universally appealing music. Besides, every now and then, when the moment's right, it's nice to throw a different disc in the changer and listen to something you wouldn't normally listen to. Who knows? You may even catch me walking down the street in my new Jack Johnson t-shirt.