The year is rolling along to that time once again. Here in the Midwest, the weather is finally starting to stay warm for more than a few hours at a time, and the young 'uns are almost able to count the number of school days left on their own two hands. Summer is lurking languidly around the corner, and it'll soon be time again to stretch out the lazy weeks as long as possible. It's time for this year's new summer albums to bubble to the surface, whether they be loud, energetic pop anthems like Fountains of Wayne's Welcome Interstate Managers, or quieter, laid-back grooves like Jack Johnson's On and On, both of which came out about this time last year and set the stage for summer perfectly.

This year, Donovan Frankenreiter has helped to usher in the summer music season by following in Jack Johnson's footsteps with his self-titled debut. In fact, Frankenreiter's career path has mimicked Johnson's so closely that it's almost creepy. Both grew up in California during the seventies with a strong knack for and love of surfing. Both made the move out to Hawaii to pursue surfing on the pro circuit. Both picked up guitar as a hobby to keep them busy on the beaches every night. When you consider that the two have been friends for years, and that Johnson helped to produce Donovan Frankenreiter on his own Brushfire Records label, it's no surprise that Frankenreiter's music has the exact same laid-back acoustic groove that has already won Johnson a bevy of fans.

Frankenreiter's self titled debut opens up with It Don't Matter, which starts things off with a laid-back, carefree tone. The song has an undeniable energy, but it never lets the pace get carried away, instead staying at that mid-tempo level perfect for strolling along the beach or rocking back and forth in a hammock. The song's acoustic guitar noodling, light percussion beat, and bouncy bass line give the song a perfect island feeling, even for those of us who have been stuck in Wisconsin for months. When you're looking for something to put you into the mood for some mindless summer laziness, It Don't Matter cannot be beaten. Start to pay too much attention to it, though, and you'll notice where the song's flaws (and by extension, those of the whole album) lie. Mindlessness is the name of the game here, as the lyrics of the song seem to consist of nothing more than "If it don't matter to you, it don't matter to me" repeated over and over. Sure, there are a few other lyrics mixed in with the song, but they all sound more than a little inane and forgettable.

Most of the other songs on Donovan Frankenreiter fall into the same demographics. There's catchy, energetic music that never rises above a laid back tempo, and above it are Frankenreiter's breathy tenor lyrics that match the tone of the songs, but feel too repetitive if you listen too closely. Take Day Dreamer. The sharp drums, guitar strumming, and electric piano riffs all join together into an infectious shuffle beat, but the lyrics keep falling back to the lines "dream on dreamer, dream all through the night, dream on dreamer, baby that's all right" far too often. Or take Heading Home. The song's beat and structure are a perfect example of laid-back blues, but the lyrics start with the not-so-deep "try to sell something that just can't be bought," and only alter a handful of words each time a new verse comes around.

Even though the lyrics can feel repetitive, there's a good deal of musical variety on the album. There are bouncy pop song's like Make You Mine and Our Love, folk-rock songs like Butterfly and Swing on Down, some jazzier numbers like So Far Away, and even a little bit of down-tempo soul in On My Mind. With such musical variety, all helping to enhance a laid-back, lazy summer feel, we can forgive Frankenreiter for some repetitive lyrics here and there.

The real highlights of Donavon Frankenreiter, though, are the collaborative songs that Frankenreiter put together with his peers. G. Love brings some harmonica and vocal support to What'cha Know About, as he and Frankenreiter bang out the kind of sloppy blues that G. Love popularized with his band Special Sauce. Jack Johnson himself joins Frankenreiter on Free, a song that the two wrote together. The bouncy beat anchored by Johnson on the ukulele, the electric piano fills from Koool G. Murder of The Eels, and tight harmonies from both Johnson and Frankenreiter all join together to take the listener off to the shores of Hawaii, regardless of where actually are when they listen. Free simply defines what a summer song should be, and its no surprise that it had already started to garner some radio attention weeks before Donavon Frankenreiter even came out.

Donavon Frankenreiter probably won't go down in history as a classic, unforgettable album. There's nothing too unique or inventive to make it leap out from the pack, and the lyrics are repetitive at best, trite and inane at worst. Still, the album has a freshness and a zeal that endear the songs to the listener. They come at just the right time to make summer feel like summer should. Who cares if the lyrics aren't up to scratch. When you're lying in the shade, swaying in your hammock to this infectiously lazy groove, the words don’t matter one bit.

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