Sleep Through the Static (2008)

Dig into surfer/strummer Jack Johnson's fourth solo CD, Sleep Through the Static, and you'll find unexpectedly somber pronouncements. ''There's almost nothing that you could tell me/That could ease my mind,'' he complains on ''All at Once.'' ''Sometimes time doesn't heal,'' he later observes on ''If I Had Eyes.'' Whoa — don't go killing our buzz, bro! Then again, those dark sentiments are balanced by warm melodies and gently rootsy arrangements. Good musical vibes are Johnson's stock-in-trade, and on that count, this dude will always abide. B+
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