Sheer Mag’s style brings to mind the loose, glam-inflected garage rock of the ’70s, but their music never sounds like it actually comes from that decade. Unlike bands like T. Rex, or Big Star, the Philly band records crudely and (one hopes) cheaply, capturing the essential details of their sound without sweating the fidelity. They are lo-fi in the purest sense and their quick-and-dirty 7″/Bandcamp M.O. is firmly in the punk tradition, as are lyrics about hard times or making your way in a corrupt capitalist world. But the most impressive thing about their two 7″s so far is that they are pure ear candy, with relentlessly catchy guitar parts and an undercurrent of sleaze in the swinging rhythms. This turns out to be the ideal accompaniment to Christina Halladay’s voice, which sounds pissed off and vulnerable simultaneously, a fuck-you sneer . Sheer Mag have no illusions about ever hitting the Top 40, their music calls back to a time when grimy, riff-mad rock’n’roll still had currency in the pop world and at any given time might be found leaking out of an AM radio somewhere in your vicinity.
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The Fat Angel Sings 