By Denise Dechaine
The show at the Knitting Factory’s Alter Knit Room on Wednesday
was anything but ordinary.
Sissy Wish, whose sound is a mixture of innovative
indie-pop/punk electronica and properly described by Nylon magazine
as “60 pop-goes-synth,” started the show off in an original manner,
which was entertaining, but probably left patrons asking themselves
what on Earth were they watching.
Sissy Wish’s voice can be compared to Cyndi Lauper on helium.
Some may enjoy this and most cannot stand to listen to it at
all.
It might be the pitch of her voice, or the fact that English is
her second language because her lyrics are not understandable.
They are lost in translation.
When the screeching sound of her voice isn’t enough, she jumped
off of the stage onto the dance floor and started to do pelvic
thrusts and the “moon walk” thinking that would get the crowd more
involved.
Boy was she wrong.
Not only did it not get people more involved, people were
backing away, pinning themselves against the walls like a deer in
the headlights.
The few fans that were there, were cheering her on and just
making matters worse.
Despite the somewhat non-reaction from the crowd, Sissy Wish
puts everything she has into every song.
Not only is her performance quirky, but so is her wardrobe.
Upon coming up on stage, she decided to “don” a vest made
completely from cassette tapes; a birthday present from her
boyfriend.
This demeanor completely matches her personality, which is goofy
and outgoing.
After a sound mess up during the last song of the concert, Sissy
Wish plainly and jokingly said, “Eh, I don’t want to sing anymore.
Buy the record.”
This confident personality is probably an influence from her
upbringing in Norway, where she started out her career.
Her real name is Siri Alberg and she is from a town called
Bergen where the Sissy Wish name originated.
“When I was about 15 or 16, my big brother was really into
music,” said Alberg. “I would listen to the drums and rock and
metal. He ended up giving me the guitar spot in his band and then I
started playing around with my initials and that is when I came up
with the name.”
Sissy Wish is on her world tour and just returned from Japan and
China where she and her band mate, Bjare, received some unexpected
attention.
“When we were playing there, they were so enthusiastic,” said
Alberg. “They were following us from place to place where we were
playing and it was a four or five hour drive.”
Wish wraps up her tour at the end of the month at the University
of Wisconsin Stout and The Turf Club in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The album, “Beauties Never Die,” was released on Sept. 22 with
Afternoon Records.
Based on the performance seen and the attitude and creativeness
of the artist, it might be worth checking out.
Reach Denise DeChaine at: lifestyle@thepolypost.com
Andrea Waitrovich/Poly Post
Sissy Wish’s performance leaves crowd confused
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