December 2- 8, 2004

musicpicks

Nancy Sinatra

pop

Almost four decades into her pop career (albeit following a pretty big gap), the self-titled Nancy Sinatra (Attack) feels less like a reinvention than a tribute album, though it's not always clear who's homaging whom. "Burnin' Down the Spark," written by and starring Calexico, clearly acknowledges the band's debt to the twangy spaghetti Sinatra cooked up with Lee Hazelwood, while Jarvis Cocker's "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" spices up her affectless tough-girl persona with characteristically Pulpy sass. (The album's worth a listen if only to hear Sinatra's dig at "some skinny little bitch in some hot pants.") But if Sinatra's too-cool-for-pitch delivery helped pave the way for Kim Gordon's toneless drone, the Gordon impression Sinatra contrives for Thurston Moore's "Momma's Boy" doesn't return any favors, and, even if he was gracious enough to promise her a No. 1 hit, her take on label head Morrissey's "Let Me Kiss You" falls flatter than a wet pompadour. But whatever its inconsistencies, the album ought to establish once and for all that Sinatra was no one's go-go-booted puppet; as much as her forward strides, her missteps are her own.

Sun., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m., $30, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400.

—Sam Adams