CD Reviews for 12/12/07 – Sharon Jones & Dap Kings, Wussy

Written by Dan Ferguson on December 12, 2007 and posted in Boudin Barndance Reviews .
Compact Capsules for 12/12/07
by Dan Ferguson

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
100 Days 100 Nights
Dap Tone Records DAP-012

At 51, Sharon Jones is a soul survivor. Hailing from the same Georgia ‘burg that gave us J.B., Jones, along with her Dap Kings band, has been at it for just over a decade now. Her latest release titled 100 Days 100 Nights is old school R&B and soul that has more to do with Stax and Muscle Shoals than anything out there these days. Perhaps it’s the Winehouse effect (Side note: The Dap Kings backed Amy Winehouse on her hit album Back to Black), but “traditional” soul is making a serious comeback. By virtue of 100 Days 100 Nights, consider Jones one of the leaders of the pack. (Visit www.daptonerecords.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings.html)

Wussy
Left For Dead
Shake It Records 558

Ass Ponys fans rejoice, falsetto-voiced front man Chuck Cleaver, he of the jangly, twisted tunes of yore returns with his newest outfit, Wussy. Left For Dead is actually Wussy’s second longplayer following 2005’s acclaimed Funeral Dress. The mood, both musically (driving indie rock to flypaper pop) and lyrically (a characteristically quirky mid-American brew spanning “Killer Trees” to “Mayflies” to “God’s Camaro”), has a sunnier-than-thou glow to it all with Cleaver the perfect fodder for the rough-around-the-edges and alluring alto of co-hort Lisa Walker. Recommended. (Visit www.wussymusic.com)

(Dan Ferguson is a free-lance music writer and host of The Boudin Barndance, broadcast Thursday nights from 6 – 9 pm on WRIU-FM 90.3. He lives in Peace Dale and can be reached at [email protected].)