For a man who ran a juke joint for most of his life, and didn't even record an album until the ripe old age of 62, Junior Kimbrough has certainly put his stamp on modern blues right alongside contemporaries such as R.L. Burnside. In a six-year span, Kimbrough recorded six incredible albums until his unfortunate passing in 1998. In the last few years, Kimbrough's influence has been popping up in the music by such diverse acts like The Black Keys and Gomez, each covering Kimbrough's "Do The Romp" and "Meet Me In The City" respectively. The time just seemed ripe for a tribute album, and Kimbrough's old recording label, Fat Possum, has seen fit to grace us with Sunday Nights, one of the best tribute albums to come along in years.

What makes Sunday Nights such a fantastic album is the eclectic mix of older and newer artists that, after listening to these new recordings, obviously felt quite a kinship to the old blues troubadour. Starting and ending Sunday Nights are the newly reformed Iggy And The Stooges, recording two different versions of "You Better Run." Trust me when I tell you, you'll never have a tendency to shake your ass to a song about rape more than The Stooges two versions here, and I have to get on my knees and bow down to the genius that is Iggy (even if his last solo album wasn't even good enough to suck). No surprise that The Black Keys show up on this record, but at least they cover something less predictable. "My Mind Is Ramblin," is given a tasty run down the road and affords guitarist Dan Auerbach a chance to really ply his wears. Also no surprise is Mark Lanegan's appearance; his voice was built for the blues, as is apparent on his own blues covers album, 1999's vastly underrated I'll Take Care Of You. Here he covers "All Night Long" and as expected, it's pretty friggin' sweet. The biggest surprises come in the form of Spiritualized and The Fiery Furnaces contributions. Spiritualized front man Jason Pierce peels the paint off of "Sad Days, Lonely Nights," recalling his work with 80's drug-rock staples Spacemen 3. And anyone who's ever had a problem with the frustratingly obtuse work of The Fiery Furnaces work will revel in their version of "I'm Leaving," one of the best of the bunch here. Fat Possum newbies Heartless Bastards and Thee Shams certainly don't take a back seat to anyone on this album. They deliver powerful versions of "Done Got Old" and "Release Me" respectively.

The Pony's, Outrageous Cherry, Jim White, Pete Yorn, Blues Explosion, and a duet between Entrance and Cat Power are all here as well, and they're all simply amazing. To make a long story short, Sunday Nights - The Songs Of Junior Kimbrough definitely belongs in your collection.