I don’t care what my Spotify says my “aura of the year” was — this is my song of 2021. Boston-based singer-songwriter Sidney Gish released her last album, No Dogs Allowed, in 2017. On it, there’s a song called “Sin Triangle.” I first heard it in October and it has remained ringing in the echo chamber of my skull for the entire duration since. I have no problem with this.
I’m actually pretty sure I saw Sidney Gish about four years ago at Silent Barn in Brooklyn, a venue that no longer exists. (That place was really neat; it had a weird crow’s nest thing in its outdoor area.) Anyway, I’d totally forgotten she opened for Remember Sports that night, a Philly band you should also definitelycheck out if you enjoy this song.
In any case I should have paid more attention, because ‘Sin Triangle’ is kind of a perfect pop song. It’s an earworm, it’s supremely clever and it manages that weird balance between being sincere and silly that only the best indie rock is. Like the rest of No Dogs Allowed and all of Gish’s work as I’ve quickly learned, it’s lyrically sharp, too. The first time I heard ‘Sin Triangle,’ I wondered if it was about trigonometry or religious dogma, not expecting to get an answer. Oh, how happily wrong I turned out to be!
It’s been a minute since Gish’s last significant release, but she’s still performing and recording, having recently contributed a song to I’m Into Life Records’ Creepy Covers compilation. I hope she’s got shows on the horizon — I really just want to shout this chorus in unison in a packed former VFW hall that smells like beer and ancient textbooks.
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