No Dogs Allowed is one of my favorite albums. I have listened to it so many times that I’ve lost count.

I first discovered it after hearing Sidney Gish was a student with me at my alma mater, I was a graduate student while she was an undergrad. She began to receive a lot of attention, and I thought it best to listen to what she had on offer here. Ultimately, I discovered, this is an endlessly relatable album about trying to find your groove in your early 20s.

My favorite songs here are “Persephone,” which uses the experience of mispronouncing words to make a larger statement on the way we learn, and “Mouth Log,” which catalogs attempts to catalog life. I’m also especially fond of the concluding song, “New Recording 180 (New Year’s Eve).”

The entire album is great to place on in the background, but sustained attention offers its own rewards. Gish’s music is fun, creative, and sonically interesting. I’ve seen that she’s opened for acts like Mitski, but I’d actually listen to Gish before Mitski. I hope that she’ll be able to book more gigs in her own right, because this work is something that really ought to reach more people.