Taking a page from Jack Johnson, Timmy Curran is a pro-surfer gone the way of the guitar. Most famous for doing a full flip in about two feet of surf, he’s also known for being one of the most well-regarded guys in surfing. His musical career has blown up quickly, going from writing songs in hotels to opening for Switchfoot and even Foo Fighters on their acoustic tour. Word of Mouth was originally a free download spread around the surfing community, but Tim Curran’s debut album hits stores everywhere today.

Like Jack Johnson, it seems Timmy Curran likes to keep it relatively quiet. Much of the album is based around hushed, often finger-picked guitar parts with an assortment of backing instruments, including piano, cello, and violin, as well as all of the normal rock band instruments. He doesn’t necessarily share Jack’s sunny disposition, though, as the songs themselves tend to be darker than would be expected for a surfer, interspersed with a few happier tracks. I don’t mean dark in the slow, quiet, and brooding way though; I’m talking about minor chord progressions, disheartened lyrics, and a universally distributed sense of longing. The music on Word of Mouth ranges from country-tinged rock to folk songs to bouncy pop that would almost be comfortable in the eighties.

The first song, “Daylight’s Coming”, sports a western feel that doesn’t let up for the whole track. In fact, the chord progression rarely changes, leaving the song somewhat predictable and repetitive. “Comatose” finds Curran somberly lamenting the current status of the world, warning that “if we don’t wake up soon, we’ll be gone.” “Joan” is one of the happier tracks, in which Curran reminisces about his past with Joan, and tells her that wherever he goes, he will be waiting for her when he gets there. “Horses On the Range” contains Tim’s wish to get away from everything and be completely free, like the horses of the song’s title. “Lonely”, a more upbeat song, brightens the album with its “Close To Me”, Cure-esque drums and unrelenting lead-guitar part. “Save” is Curran’s plea for somebody to rescue him, for he is “destined for disaster” as he asks for anybody to help him from falling down too far. The ending track, “Can You Feel It,” is a bitter-sweet song about somebody who is getting what they want, but leaving Curran because of it. The album ends with the poignant repetition of the line “I won’t ever be the same with you gone.”

I gotta say, for a debut album from a man who has spent his life in the water rather than strumming strings, this is not a bad collection of songs. It’s not perfect; for example, though the songs may not sound exactly the same, for the most part they feel the same. In fact, this album suffers slightly from a universally distributed lack of variety, both in general, and in the songs themselves. Most of the songs just didn’t stray away from the main chord progression enough. However, at the same time this is mostly forgivable, because I feel like this album isn’t necessarily for anybody but Timmy Curran. There isn’t an abundance of hooks, and he doesn’t really do anything groundbreaking on Word of Mouth, but for many people, this album will be greatly satisfactory.