FOURTH WIFE - "MONA LISA BOYS"

As soon as Michael Latella opens his mouth you will recognize that idiosyncratic baritone from the post-hardcore, noise-punk band Hissing Tiles. On Latella’s latest release under Fourth Wife we hear Latella’s musical obsessions of Elvis Costello and Fiona Apple shining through in knotty pop songs written with plenty of piano and sophistipop sheen while filtered through the off-kilter post-punk lens of bands like Protomartyr, Drive Like Jehu and This Heat. Do I hear some Prefab Sprout in there? Deeply confessional lyrics that skewer Latella’s Catholic upbringing with a restraint that Hissing Tiles’ Boychoir chose to enthusiastically ignore. Truly imaginative, vulnerable and triumphant work.