A no nonsense, tubthump blast from the garage, 'Mony Mony' is more familiar to me through Billy Idol's 1987 cover. Yet despite his ever present sneer of lust, James outsings him ten to one with the throat rasping gusto of a proto Kurt Cobain that makes that "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony" sound like the most deviant of sexual mores. Should it come as any surprise that he's better? As a rule, the only way Billy Idol can improve on a song is by leaving it well alone, yet his dumb, nu-metal take highlights the weak link in this chain as being The Shondells themselves who play like they were briefed to play it bubblegum.Lacking the fire of the vocals, the clap happy backing slightly hobbles James's best efforts and damp down his energy; James hollers the "so good, so fine", the band politely look the other way. 'Mony Mony' still thrills, but it lacks the edge of dirt and danger of a 'Louie Louie' or a 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' to be the bona fide teenage, garage grunge anthem it aspires to be.
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