Sheer Mag – Playing Favorites | Album Review
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Third Man Records
In September 2019, I saw Sheer Mag at Ace of Cups in Columbus, Ohio. They were sandwiched in between two much-beloved Ohio bands: Vacation and Tweens. It is a story lately told that bitches from Ohio love bitches from Ohio. This may not be unique to us, but I’ve been told by some transplants that we are more zealously committed to uplifting “Ohio” than people are about their states anywhere else. Maybe it’s flyover state imposter syndrome–maybe it’s all the chemicals in the water. So that night, a lot of folks showed up early to see Vacation (they were great, by the way). Sheer Mag went on next, and singer Tina Halladay opened the set with an anecdote from the restroom. The long and short of it was that she had overheard two other girls talking while she was in the stall; one asked the other if she was staying for the next band, and the other replied, “I don’t know. It’s just some girl and a bunch of sweaty guys.” Halladay gave the girls a shoutout: “Don’t know if you’re still here, but… just some girl and a bunch of sweaty guys? I’m sweaty, too!” They proceeded to shred.
I appreciate talented musicians who do not take themselves too seriously.
On the aptly titled Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag has taken everything great about 70s rock and roll and combined it all together into an anthemic tribute to 20th-century arena bangers. It almost feels like they’re chronicling the sound of 70s rock across the decade, starting with the reliable garage rock sound of the title track that has served them so well in the past. The further you get into the tracklist, the more lush the sounds become. “Don’t Come Lookin’” begins with a delicate acoustic introduction reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s softer side but quickly trades that in for soaring power chords more akin to Thin Lizzy. “Moonstruck” smacks of Steve Miller Band’s playful noodling, while “Mechanical Garden” finds the band experimenting with funk guitar and bass as well as a synthesized steel drum. By the time you get to “Golden Hour,” they’ve gone full power-pop.
In the wrong hands, this 70s Saturday Night treatment could sound very muddled (and corny), so it's a testament to Sheer Mag's talent that they have managed to mix these disparate sounds together in a way that not only makes sense but feels elevated. In the hands of a lesser band, this spinning the greatest hits of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and NOW approach could wind up sounding like in-store radio, but Sheer Mag has taken these familiar tropes of popular music and turned them into something that sounds new and bold.
While Playing Favorites may lack some of the venom of the band’s earlier work, its bigger, fuller sound reflects a certain level of growth you would want to hear from a band that’s coming up on ten years together. The most aggressive moment on the entire record appears on “Moonstruck” (a love song), where Halladay growls, “C’MON YOU SON OF A BITCH!” While that’s not exactly “if you don’t give us the ballot, expect the bayonet,” it’s still pretty satisfying.
According to the band, their move towards lighter subject matter was intentional. Per Third Man’s website, rhythm guitarist and lyricist Matt Palmer stated, “Those first four songs came out of a hard moment in life for all of us collectively—they kind of felt like an attempt to figure out how to have fun when you actually feel miserable.” In that same article, Halladay goes on to add, “Those first few records felt like a personal coming out party; they felt like they were an introduction to me and my life story. With these new songs, I feel like I’m finally able to move past that—there are parts on this record that I couldn’t imagine being able to sing ten, five, or even three years ago.”
So they wanted to make a record that was fun, and they succeeded. Playing Favorites is undoubtedly a fun record, and given the current state of things on a macro scale, who can really blame them? It's always interesting to see which way artists lean in times of global turmoil. It can be cathartic to get angry and indignant, but that's not always sustainable, and Sheer Mag have been down that road already. Sometimes, you just have to let loose. Sometimes, it's more cathartic to enjoy yourself in spite of everything. With the context Palmer and Halladay have provided, it's easy to hear the band celebrating through the misery.
The two main themes of this record are moving on from things that no longer serve you and allowing yourself to accept the good new things that come your way (to put it in terms that would make my therapist proud). The way the tracks are sequenced feels like a very intentional way to highlight this, with many “moving on” songs in the beginning and lots of ‘what if we were happy?’ songs toward the end. There are even a few in the middle that are kind of ‘what if we moved on and were happy?’ It makes for a listening experience that is at times raucous and smarmy but also wistful and bittersweet in turn.
But above all, Playing Favorites is a party record: from start to finish, it feels like the life-cycle of a house party, from cheeky and rambunctious at the beginning of the night to sentimental and big-hearted by the end. Like downing lukewarm PBRs in a house show with no air circulation, but in a way that you'll feel nostalgic for years later. Like drunkenly oversharing with someone you barely know, only to become great friends with them by the end of the night. Like lucking into an excellent blunt rotation with a bunch of people who were basically strangers a minute ago. Like sneaking off to dimly lit rooms to make out with guys you'll either regret later or forget about entirely, but the vibes were right at the time. Like standing in an unventilated basement with wall-to-wall people to see a truly righteous band consisting of some girl and a bunch of sweaty guys who proceed to melt your face off.
Brad Walker is a writer, comedian, and storyteller from Columbus, Ohio. Find him on the World Wide Web: @bradurdaynightlive on Instagram and @bradurdaynightlive.bsky.social on Bluesky.
