Playing Favorites

Sheer Mag

Playing Favorites

Third Man

07 March 2024
Web Exclusive

By Michael James Hall

Philadelphia four-piece Sheer Mag is a band that pulls off a rare trick. Blending classic rock with New York-inspired punk, they deliver the warm satisfaction of the former while exuding the coolness and visibility of the latter. In Christina Halladay they have a singer who belts out disco tunes as easily as she shares bittersweet soul.

On Playing Favorites the band transports you to a world where brooding romance is masked by unrelenting heartbreak and the naivety you know is tempered by brash cynicism. All sides are accompanied by plates of Motown melody and exuberant riffola.

Playing with abandon, the band rips through powerful breakdown vocals like “Eat It and Beat It” and “Don't Come Lookin'” with a kind of glee and recklessness that belies the guile it takes to sound like this. Comfortably.

With soulful love songs like the haunting, sad “I Gotta Go” and the brilliant bounce of “Moonstruck,” they throw down massive hooks and mesmerizing balladry that's fresh, raw, and intoxicating. Much of the magic comes from Halladay, whose haunting voice soars over Kyle Seely's screeching guitar and relentless rhythm from Matt Palmer and Hart Seely.

The no-nonsense attitude of “All Lined Up” celebrates the joys of the bar, even as Halladay allows “Oh, I fall topiece / Cause I had 'em all lined up,” turning a game of pool into a funny, sad story of resilience and hope —”This world is cold and we're alone / But we're not just drifting into space.”

This half-laughing sincerity is best captured in “Tea in the Kettle,” which professes true kindness and adoration (“As long as I got one cookie, you got half”), and the closer “When You Come Back,” a heart-warming promise while acknowledging that distance brings heartache—”I'll be so full of joy, but now I'm sad and blue / So come back, I need you” are the album's closing lines, a careful display of the balance of sadness and delight that characterize it.

Which is largely wonderful Playing Favorites it's just how FUN it is, a wild rock 'n' roll record with a big heart and a smart mouth. (www.sheer-mag.com)

Author Rating: 7.5/10