Though a part of the Manhattan punk scene, Mink DeVille were really retro-rock romantics at heart. Lead singer Willy DeVille teased and crooned like a hoodlum extra from West Side Story, radiating the backstreet cool exemplified by the Ronettes, the Drifters and other early ‘60s icons. The Best of Mink DeVille distills the essence of the group’s late ‘70s Capitol albums into a heady cocktail of Latin-inflected rockers, sweat-stained R&B show-stoppers and yearning pop ballads. The band plays with the quick flash and deadly thrust of a stiletto on tracks like “Desperate Days” and “Soul Twist,” then pulls back for the simmering melodrama of “Just to Walk That Little Girl Home” and the sleek throb of “Cadillac Walk.” Willy DeVille’s mannered yet affecting vocals on the poignant “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl” and the atmospheric “’A’ Train Lady” pulse with erotic longing. “Rolene” — an attempt at a hit single — proves that the band’s forte wasn’t commercial pop. Sadly, the instability of Mink DeVille’s line-up (and the erratic habits of its lead singer) kept them from achieving great success. Willy and his cohorts await wider rediscovery.
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