What I Am Listening To - Sheer Mag

Sheer Mag are a four piece band from Philadelphia formed in 2014. They have released three proper albums - the most recent being 2024s Playing Favorites. But like so many bands, their most epic tracks are their early ones. 12 songs collected released over 3 EPs through 2015 and 2016 collected on one album in 2017. These originals undoubtedly send critics reaching for numerous 1970s band comparisons- Cheap Trick and Heart with their musical journey taking them from more AC/DC territory on 2019s A Distant Call to a way more radio friendly and varied sound on their latest. But the EPs are the masterpiece. At times, a viable heir to Thin Lizzy- irresistible hooks and garage rock thud with the charismatic Tina Halliday on vocals. Alternately they can pull in that very specific 70s pop sound. A bit Disco, a bit KISS, a bit Big Star, a bit Slade. I recommend the EP collection for “Worth the Tears” being possibly the most perfect rock ballad (albeit one that is powered by a killer cowbell). Surely, they could be on Mike Douglas or Dinah Shores’s TV shows. But yeah there’s also a point for the band’s debut opener “What You Want”. Big thumping drums. Guitar heroics and that wonderful frontwoman. Sheer Mag is for people who listen to KISS ironically and people who listen to KISS unironically. They surely are akin to female led punk bands like Shannon and the Clams but would be perfect for the guys who read Classic Rock magazine and complain real rock is dead. At once, recalling the garage and also recalling the arena. A balm then for many who are looking for the next Thin Lizzy, KISS, MC5, Skynyrd or Sleater Kinney.