The good news and the bad news is that 100 Days, 100 Nights sounds just like any other Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings record. If you’re looking for a change of pace, some hint of modernization or innovation, you’re out of luck.
But these cats have always functioned in “if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it” mode, engaged not so much in a retro-pastiche or a dry, academic act of cataloguing arcane sounds as in an emotive celebration of a tradition they’d rather leave untouched. There’s a little more gospel here than on predecessors Naturally or Dap Dippin’, courtesy of “Humble Me” and “Answer Me,” both of which help expose some of Jones’ roots as a singer in the church choir.
Otherwise, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings serve up more of the same funk, soul, and R&B that they cook up with copious horns, a tight rhythm section, and arrangements off of which one could bounce a quarter — or, more to the point, on which Jones can bounce around, belting and wailing like no one since Aretha Franklin.
Yes, the reverence for the old masters is laid on a little thick. The material doesn’t vary much from the love-song formula with which artists have been toying since there was pop, rock, or soul for the singing. And if any of that matters after Jones’ first note, you’re just not paying attention.
– Lyam White
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: www.myspace.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings
Daptone Records: www.daptonerecords.com