Johnson sets indie rock ablaze with 'Brushfire'
By Hayley Sanders
Old Gold and Black Reviewer

Indie solo artist Jack Johnson fuses honest, refreshingly rhythmic acoustic ballads with roots rock and a bluesy, folksy twang on his latest album, Brushfire Fairytales.

Johnson’s sound is in the style of artists like Ben Harper, Dave Matthews and Travis. In fact, he has opened for Harper and employed Harper’s producer, J.P. Plunier, to help with this album. Plunier’s efforts have produced a clean album with both upbeat, intense energy and a hushed sincerity. Johnson also helped with G. Love’s most recent album and inspired the flowing single “Rodeo Clowns.”

Johnson hails from the North Shore of Oahu, and at one time competed as a top surfer. He met Love there, which led to his collaboration on the album Philadelphonic. It makes sense then that his emphasis centers on setting a chill mood with his music, which allows listeners to kick back and let the music coolly wash over them like a daydream.
This kind of relaxing, mellow sound surfaces in the first track, “Inaudible Melodies,” where he expresses some heartfelt advice about experiencing life fully and taking it slow, saying, “Slow down, everyone/you’re moving too fast/frames can’t catch you when/you’re moving like that.” Johnson candidly addresses sadder themes, such as losing hope and feeling alone.

This is apparent in his song “Losing Hope,” where his intelligent yet accessible lyrics include phrases like “Losing hope is easy/When your only friend is gone.”

Although no song left me disappointed, one of the lyrical highlights of the 13 tracks is the song “Posters.” This song addresses identity, with its lines including, “Lookin’ at himself but wishin’ he was someone else/because the posters on the wall don’t look like him at all.”

While Johnson does include various songs about issues presented in a more brooding way, he puts forth an effort to create more uplifting songs which still have substance.

The listener finds a prime example of this in the song “Bubble Toes,” which discusses one of his loves in an amusing way. Johnson creates another lighthearted song with track ten, “Mudfootball,” which paints a familiar Americana scene with lyrics like, “Over to the field for tackle football/Big hits, big hats, yeah give me the ball/Rain is pouring, touchdown scoring.”

Overall, Johnson combines a unique, extremely melodic sound with intelligent lyrics, which makes his album worthy of purchasing. After a friend introduced me to his music, I bought the disc on CDbaby.com, a Web site specializing in selling independent music for a reasonable price; however, you can also get it on Amazon.com.

Although he mainly bases his shows on the West Coast, Johnson will make an appearance in North Carolina on Nov. 4 at Ziggy’s. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are available for $10.