James Brown may have passed, but the funk will never die. Every couple of years or so, we see funk revivials come to the forefront, whether it was the heavy hip-hop sampling of the genre during the 80′s and 90′s, or Breakestra’s ingeniuous “live mixes” half a decade ago. Most recently, the soul sounds of yesteryear have resurfaced in the mainstream, thanks to the crossover success of Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black LP. Do a little research, and you’ll find that Winehouse producers Mark Ronson & Salaam Remi are primarily the reason this drinky British chick sounded so soulful. Dig a little deeper than that, and you’ll find it was members of The Dap Kings band that backed her up.

So naturally, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings have been thrust into the meanstream spotlight, mainly due to affiliation, even though they’ve been doing their thing for a few albums now, via their own Daptone Records imprint. 100 Days, 100 Nights is the new record, but judging from the album cover and what lies beneath the packaging, it sounds very much like an old record – and that’s not such a bad thing.

Sharon Jones is a woman-out-of-time, who cares less for what black music is “supposed” to sound like in 2007, and instead makes songs with every ounce of her heart and soul poured into them. She can sing her ass off, belting out notes over rich, chunky grooves of quacking horns, snapping snares, and bluesy guitar riffs by her backing band.

Sharon shows off two sides to her personality on 100 Days, 100 Nights – that of the loyal lover, and that of the woman scorned. The title track sets up the record, as she ponders getting inside the male heart, trying to figure out what makes it tick. She’s pretty convincing on the swanky “Let Them Knock”, where she gives fully of herself to please her man, by shutting all others out, suggesting, “they can call me on the phone / but no matter how many times that phone rings / I’m not pickin’ up for no one / until that fat lady sings (when we’re making love)”.

“Somethings Changed” on the other hand, doesn’t find her so devoted, as she gives her no-good-cheating man the Larry David-stare, over an incriminating backdrop from the Dap Kings. “Keep On Looking” closes things out, finding Sharon back on the block as a single lady, looking for a new love since her once good man isn’t so good no more. So in other words, don’t cross her, fellas.

More or less a concept album, the only song that doesn’t really fit here is the closer “Answer Me”, where she asks Jesus to give her some kind of verbal confirmation that He’s getting her nightly e-mails. While it’s a bit more introspective, revealing another layer to her character, it doesn’t really work as an endcap to an album that mainly deals with the ups and downs of relationships.

Unlike her tattooed counterpart, the more mature Sharon doesn’t attempt to “modernize” her lyrics with drug/alcohol references or curse words. This in fact may keep Sharon from reaching the crossover success that Winehouse has seen, as some will argue that her sound doesn’t add a new spin to an old sound, but we’d argue if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. – Pizzo