My Amazon Reviews: Jack Johnson "In Between Dreams"

Waiting for The Wake Up Call 
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Jack Johnson is the undisputed heir to the Jimmy Buffet world of breezy, feel good laconic pop. There's plenty of decent melody, a relaxing voice that hardly intrudes into your hemispheres, and a likable personality that thinks it might be fun to share a beer and some good times with the guy. The problem with "In Between Dreams" is that Johnson never gets much more interesting than that. You keep hoping that he might eventually show more depth than a beach layabout, but for that you'd have to jump ahead to his albums "Sleep Through The Static" and "To The Sea," where grown up concerns finally started giving his music some edge.

On "In Between Dreams," however, Johnson lacks any intellectual heft. "Banana Pancakes" is like a second cousin of Michael Franks' "Popsicle Toes" (or a stoned version Buffet's "Cheeseburger In Paradise") and then Johnson essentially rights the same song later in the album. That kind of repetition is a major issue throughout the album, as Johnson's carefree attitude with everything tends to render many of these songs to similar to be distinctive. It becomes easy to see why he became an early favorite with college kids; the mellowness would certain lend bland but irony-free trendiness to many a hipster party.

That's not to say the album is all bad. Johnson peaks midway through "In Between Dreams" with "Good People," the lyrically trippy "Sitting Waiting Wishing" and the funky "Staple It Together." These songs preview how much better Johnson's following albums - even the cutsie kiddie songs he recorded for the Curious George movie, in which his friendly voice is perfect - would become.