Sheer Mag broaden their scope while retaining their DIY appeal on fierce yet poignant second LP ‘A Distant Call.' Read our review
with R&B and funk, the band is back with a more unified set of songs that flow together in a single arc.
To be fair, Sheer Mag have always excelled at storytelling in miniature: From “Fan the Flames,” a sobering look at housing corruption in the band’s hometown, to bittersweet relationship postmortem “Worth the Tears,” their early songs often felt like end-credits tunes summing up a feature film’s worth of emotion. Here, we follow a single character, based on frontwoman Tina Halladay, through personal trials and political awakening.
Halladay is equally convincing when crooning “I’m making it/Day to day but can something please turn up my way,” from “Silver Line,” as she is shrieking on fierce socialist screed “Chopping Block” . And she’s alternately heart-wrenching and inspiring in “Cold Sword,” which grapples with the legacy of an abusive father, and “The Right Stuff,” a reflection on body image in which she howls, “Baby, I’ve had enough,” and asserts, “I don’t care what they see/Cuz I think of beauty differently.
The band matches her versatility, venturing from street-tough hard rock á la prime Eighties Judas Priest to twinkly retro pop that sounds beamed in from Fleetwood Mac’sera and a sort of Thin Lizzy–gone-krautrock . It all hangs together, thanks in large part to the band’s prime musical architects, ever stylish and surprising lead-guitarist Kyle Seely — whose playing somehow fulfills every air-guitar fantasy while perfectly serving the songs — and his brother, crafty bassist-producer Hart.
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