The heavy riff of a guitar, a singer with powerhouse lungs, and hearts that beats for rock and roll. All things that have become less and less frequent in today’s technological world. Thankfully, Sheer Mag was born to prove that retro-rock is not only alive, but thriving. The Philadelphia born quintet is like a deep breath of crisp, hard-earned air to those who have been longing for something like this.
Despite the fact that the expressive punk group has only been around since 2014, feelings of nostalgia are only natural when listening to their latest album, Need To Feel Your Love. Sheer Mag has released three EPs in the past, yet this debut still serves as a burst of emotions that were kept bottled up inside for far too long. They take 1970s-esque instrumentals and slight hints of doo-wop, and pair it with frontwoman, Tina Halladay’s, deeply soulful voice to create an anthology of raw, helpless feelings everybody seems to have met once or twice before.
The album in its entirety has painted an image of romance and rebellion. A portrait with splatters of black and grey. Tracks like “Suffer Me”, “Pure Desire”, and “Can’t Play It Cool”, act as warning signs to listeners as they are about to head down a path of temptation, protest, and perhaps even forbidden love. It’s the taunting devil on the left shoulder drowning out the voice of reason on the right.
Need To Feel Your Love is an unforgiving compilation of rage and seduction, with a touch of blissfulness that will echo long into the future. The honesty and severity sewn into Sheer Mag should only bring good fortune as they continue to pour their integrity and righteous emotions into their music.
