Sheer Mag

Pennsylvania outfit Sheer Mag fuses the Mekons, Thin Lizzy, the Jackson 5, and the MC5 into a single sound, channeling expansive 1970s guitar riffs and garage-punk swagger through concise, melody-driven, lo-fi revelry. That approach guided both Need to Feel Your Love in 2017 and A Distant Call in 2019. On their 2024 album Playing Favorites—their debut for Jack White’s Third Man Records—the quintet widened the frame further, pairing hard-rock drive with detours into country twang and brightly melodic AM pop.

The group coalesced in Philadelphia in 2014 when Kyle Seely, Hart Seely, Matt Palmer, Ian Dykstra, and vocalist Tina Halladay joined forces. Within twelve months they began issuing a rapid series of 7-inch singles that drew notice from Stereogum, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and NPR. Their first proper long-player, I/II, arrived in early 2016 on Static Shock Records and gathered every cut from the initial pair of EPs. Twelve months later a second compilation appeared, now incorporating the four songs from the aptly titled third EP, III. By then the band had already started tracking a debut album under Hart Seely’s guidance. The resulting Need to Feel Your Love, issued in July 2017, presented a more shaded version of their bright AOR tone while placing Halladay’s voice at the forefront.

A Distant Call, the follow-up released in 2019, turned overtly political and autobiographical, drawing from socialist ideas, financial struggle, and the loss of Halladay’s father. In 2023 the band offered “All Lined Up,” the opening preview of Playing Favorites. When the full Third Man set surfaced in February 2024, it showcased an even broader palette that retained their taut hard-rock core while venturing into late-1970s country-rock, power pop, and orchestral prog.