Pros: Superb laid-back grooves and a few stand-out tracks
Cons: a few of the songs feel repetitious or half-finished
The Bottom Line: Jack Johnson brings us more of the relaxed folk-pop grooves that listeners loved from his first album. There may not be much development, but what it has, it does well.
DrFaustus's Full Review: On and On by Jack Johnson
(This is my entry for the "Spankin' the Monkey" portion of Kristinafh's May Music Madness write-off, in which we need to review a new album released this May. Visit her profile page for details on each portion of this write-off.)
The world of music is supposed to be a difficult place. Genuine artists struggle for years and years, slaving away at the craft, just to get some small glimmer of recognition. When someone does manage to break through and achieve fame and success that raises himself above their peers, you can usually tell the amount of work that gone into the music. Why is it, then, that Jack Johnson can come along and make a name for himself with music that sounds as if he's simply playing around, and not letting himself get too serious.
For those that aren't yet hep to the jive, Johnson is one of the people that lives up to the Jack of all trades side of the cliché, but contrary to conventional wisdom, has proven himself a master of at least some of them. Growing up on the shores of Hawaii, where a relaxed attitude isn't just a break from the ordinary, it's a way of life, Johnson found his first passion in surfing. He prevailed in several tournaments during his teenage years, but soon felt the need to move on. His next stop was film school, where he produced award-winning documentaries, such as the surf-pic September Sessions. Again, not content to tie himself down to one area of focus, he began to play and write music, penning a few songs and building up a small local following. Johnson's first national exposure came with Rodeo Clowns, a song that Johnson's longtime friend G. Love (of G.Love and Special Sauce) recorded back in the late nineties. With the support of backing of longtime idol Ben Harper, Johnson released his first solo album Brushfire Fairytales, back in 2001. The album features the same infectious laid-back energy that Johnson had brought to everything in his life. Spurred through little more than word-of-mouth and grassroots support, Brushfire Fairytales became a sleeper hit in the summer of 2002, gaining platinum certification before long.
Now in 2003, Johnson has shown us that he isn't going to drop music for yet another pastime anytime soon. Fans awaited his sophomore release, On and On, with bated breath, anxious to see if Johnson would maintain his laid-back style, or if he would try and tinker with the formula that has won him success with his debut. After spinning the disk through my stereo a few times, I can say with confidence that Johnson has barely messed with the formula. Overall, this is good new for his fans (but does bring along a few drawbacks as baggage, which I'll get to later). On an On is a largely acoustic affair, with every track featuring Johnson's mellifluous rhythm guitar work, sometimes alone, and sometimes supported with an unobtrusive bass and drum foundation. Johnson's vocals flow along in a half-awake, half-asleep manner that occasionally sound as if he's just improvising on the spot (and doing a fantastic job of staying one step ahead of himself). The overall feel of the album is a laid-back grove that you might get of you managed to replace all of the Caribbean flavor of Jimmy buffet with a mixture of folk and pop.
Several tracks from On and On swagger forth and grab the listener's attention on the first listen. The album's first single, The Horizon Has Been Defeated brings us a lazy reggae beat that is at once sharp and relaxed. Although the lyrics get a bit political on this song as Johnson rallies against the evils and dangers of consumerism, the words come across with a wry sense of poetry and metaphor that no one can listen to without cracking a smile. A few tracks later, we get Taylor, a touching character study about a youths for whom life isn't everything that it could be. Johnson gets to show off his lyrical flow that glides effortlessly over the persistent strumming of his acoustic guitar.
We also get Johnson's rendition of the song that first brought him some national attention, Rodeo Clowns. Johnson's version opens with some Spanish guitar style noodlings, before settling into a subdued, hip-hop influenced groove. The song is lyrically dense, and keeping up with the words can be a little rough, but it all contributes to the overall feel of bravado that makes the song work so well. The highlight of the album, though, has got to be Wasting Time, a slacker love song that opens with the cheeky lyrics "I'm just a waste of her energy, and she's just wasting my time, so why don't we get together and we could waste everything tonight." The bass-heavy rhythm line in interrupted between verses by a series of sharp electrical guitar licks (some of the only electrical instrumentation to show up on the album) that sound like something that Stevie Ray Vaughan might have recorded in one of his more playful moments.
The remaining song all conform to the same kind of laid-back acoustic groove that earned Johnson success on his debut album. Even though they have a quality, enjoyable sound to them, these other songs all tend to sound somewhat similar, which is a small complaint. A slightly larger complaint I find is that these songs make it seem like Johnson is playing things too safe. The basic blueprint for success from the first album remains intact, but the playful that pushed the envelope on Brushfire Fairytales is hard to find. Part of what made his first album so enjoyable was the playful, childlike innocence of songs like Bubble Toes or Mudfootball. The music from On and On is certainly enjoyable, but it seems like Johnson tried a little too hard to keep his inner child in check.
Another minor complaint I have with the album is that at times it feels like a series of improvisational sketches caught on tape. Since the album clocks in at forty-four minutes and contains sixteen tracks, some of them are bound to come up a little short. Seven of the tracks are less than two-and-a-half minutes in length, with the shortest clocking in at barely over one minute. These shorter songs seem to finish before they've gotten up to speed, and in many cases feel like they could use some lyrical expansion, or extra instrumental bridges. Again, the musicality is superb, but it almost seems like we're just listening to a jam session played on the beach after an afternoon spent surfing.
These flaws aside, On and On is a worthwhile album that comes at just the right time of year. The weather is warming up. Students are wrapping up their classes for the year. The days are getting longer. We need a way to lay back in the shade and let the cares of the world wash past us. On and On is a wonderful accompaniment for however you chose to unwind and waste time as we move into the summer months. Perhaps Johnson could have given us something a bit meatier, but this release will still keep old and new fans content until he proves himself with his third album.
(Those who enjoy On and On will surely also enjoy the music of John Mayer and Jason Mraz. The opposite is equally true.)
On And On features 16 tracks which were produced by Mario Caldato jr. and recorded at The Mango Tree in Hawaii. The album features the same line up as...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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