I Learned the Hard Way
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Score:76
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: Daptone (USA)
Reviewed: Apr 14th '10, Released:2010
You have to be impressed with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings’ fidelity to the sounds of yesteryear. On each of their four releases, a Dap Kings novitiate could understandably mistake their sound for a forgotten Stax record, or a James Brown-era proto-funk workout, happily discovered at a garage sale for $2. It is this faithfulness that sets them apart from so many tired revivalists today. There is no attempt on their part to fuse their sound with a modern sensibility with an eye on crossover success. Instead, there is a fierce reliance on the beauty of 60s funk and soul, the impressive musical chops of the Dap Kings, and of course Ms Jones herself.
Having signaled on their previous outing, 100 Days, 100 Nights, an intention to move away from the upbeat grooves of Dap-Dipping With… for a sound that meshes more tightly with Jones’ vintage r’n’b chops, I Learned the Hard Way hearkens back to The Supremes and The Ronettes rather than Funkadelic or The Commodores. Jones herself, never a wallflower to begin with, takes centre stage in a way she has previously shied away from – multi-tracking herself on backing vocals and fleshing out her strengths, letting her backing band lay down simple, tight grooves.
The only problem with this is that by diminishing the Kings’ opportunity to get feet tapping, a much-needed dimension goes missing. 100 Days… was the band’s best album for the simple reason that it played routinely to their strengths – syrupy grooves married to Jones’ acrobatic vocals, equal parts Soul Train and American Bandstand. Not that their girl-group leanings here aren’t great, but listening to I Learned the Hard Way is difficult to do without wishing for a track like ‘Got a Thing on My Mind’ or ‘Something’s Changed’.
But it doesn’t really matter; this is a great band with a vice-like grasp of its signature sound – nostalgic but fresh; sweet but never saccharine. The Dap Kings are in all likelihood the best backing group in the business, and Sharon Jones is arguably the best frontwoman. Normally, this means they strike gold. This time, a little bit of variety would have gone a long way.
