| 83 |
Entertainment Weekly
Dark sentiments are balanced by warm melodies and gently rootsy arrangements.
|
| 80 |
Billboard
Saying that Jack Johnson's fourth record is languid and breezy is a little like saying the Cubs probably won't win it all this year, but Sleep Through the Static takes Johnson's über-chill, barefoot-in-a-hammock vibe to new heights--or mediums, depending on how you look at such things.
|
| 80 |
Observer Music Monthly
Jackson is back with his old producer JP Plunier and 'Hope' even has a mellow ska refrain. Johnson's vocals--imagine a Noughties take on Paul Simon and Cat Stevens--are utterly addictive, but this time there's a grown-up vibe to the trippy prose.
|
| 80 |
Q Magazine
This won't alienate any fans--his voice is as soothing as ever--but it's pleasing to see him stimulating more than just a goofy grin. [Mar 2008, p.102]
|
| 70 |
Hot Press
With an album proper to offer this time around, it seems that Johnson is back with a vengeance--fans of his effortlessly laid-back acoustic fare will immediately warm to this strong collection of songs.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
If anything, Discipline may be too subtle: a pretty, smartly produced collection that sometimes sounds like background music.
|
| 70 |
Dot Music
At its heart there is a beautiful record in there for anyone with the time and patience to find it.
|
| 70 |
Blender
The more you listen, the less soothing his songs become; this is drifty music about living a rootless life where satisfaction is elusive.
|
| 60 |
All Music Guide
No matter what instrument he's playing or what he's singing about, his music still feels the same, which is enough to satisfy his fans but not to win him many new ones.
|
| 60 |
Rolling Stone
Sleep Through the Static marks a tentative step forward for this improbable superstar.
|
| 50 |
Boston Globe
On Sleep Through the Static, Johnson has returned to his five basic modes of shuffling and stargazing, all of which are plenty easy on the ears but somehow flabbier.
|
| 40 |
Mojo
The new dad has ditched the gap-year spirituality to reach for a more adult world where poverty, war and uncertainty must be confronted, and it's a world beyond his expressive abilities. [Mar 2008, p.102]
|
| 40 |
Uncut
You'd be hard pressed to find anything to summon the blood and stiffen the sinew among the 14 songs on offer here. [Mar 2007, p.90]
|
| 40 |
Spin
Johnson uses his brain instead, bumming over the war, airplane turbulance, and the widespread deterioration of manners on chewy, Moog-speckled ditties that reveal an arty streak he's kept secret until now. [Feb 2008, p.94]
|
| 40 |
The Guardian
Sleep Through the Static has one gear, and that's the one marked "Actually, can we do it tomorrow?"
|
| 40 |
Slant Magazine
Sleep Through the Static is yet another collection of somnolent, semi-sociopolitical-themed folk-rock in the tradition of '70s AM radio.
|
| 40 |
NOW Magazine
He’s crafted yet another replica batch of breezy, walk-along-the-beach jams [which] won’t matter to his fans, who keep coming back to their sandal-footed prophet regardless.
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