Forty years later and her
boots are still walking

Nancy Sinatra - Nancy Sinatra
(Attack Records / Sanctuary)
3 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars)
Reviewed: Oct. 18, 2004

Review by Tony Bonyata

Morrissey's been keeping quite busy this year helping to resuscitate the careers of a couple of eternally cool artists long out of limelight. Earlier this year he assembled the remaining New York Dolls for a headlining slot at the Meltdown Festival in the U.K just prior to Arthur "Killer" Kane's untimely death. And now he's also brought back the Chairman of the Board's daughter Nancy Sinatra for a delightful romp of an album.
On her first full-length effort in nine years Sinatra has amassed a wealth of younger admirers, such as U2's Bono and the Edge, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Jon Spencer, who lent both their songwriting skills and performance talents throughout.
While Morrissey's involvement is most evident on the title track that he penned, the rest of the numbers end up singularly her own - with Nancy's sultry bedroom vocals cooing as comfortably over the gritty blues of "Ain't No Easy Way" as they do on the revved up rocker "Baby Please Don't Go" and the '60s deja vu of "Burnin' Down the Spark." Likewise, during the spirited slice of Americana on "Don't Mean Nothing" Sinatra's cool voice effortlessly rides sidesaddle over the rollicking piano, poignant violin and spunky stripped down rhythm section.
If the smoky cabaret number "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad" sounds as if she had pulled it directly from her dad's Jack Daniels-stained songbook, it shouldn't come as a surprise, as it was originally penned by Bono for Frank to perform. But the song that shines the brightest on this collection is the irresistible "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" featuring an incredible pop melody by Jarvis Cocker - one of the greatest, yet largely unknown (at least in this country), composers of Britpop of the last 15 years.
Almost forty years after she first sang "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," this vocalist proves it's not the footwear as much as the legs she stands on, not to mention the many talented admirers who also lend a helping hand, that is still keeping her music walking.