In the heart of the 1970s, it would have been blasphemous for a hard rock group to release a disco record. But Sheer Mag, a Philadelphia band hoping to become the genre's new vanguard, doesn't abide by those rules.
Their upcoming album Playing Favorites – due out on Friday, March 1 – started as a four-track disco EP.
Vocalist Tina Halladay told Q the band decided to transform the project into a full-fledged studio album after they signed to Jack White's label Third Man Records late last year. Before then, the band had put out all of its releases on their own label Wilsuns Recording Company.
"We'd reached a ceiling and thought maybe it was time for some outside perspective," Halladay said.
The singer is not a big KISS fan, but admitted that she has a soft spot for the band's club-friendly 1979 record Dynasty. Fans may notice some similarities between that LP and Playing Favorites.
The LP will come out on Friday, March 1 via Jack White's label Third Man Records.
Those who can't wait for the full album can listen to the four singles Sheer Mag has already released.
"Moonstruck" starts out as a cozy alt-country song, but quickly transforms into a groovy dance rock track defined by its complex bass lines.
The band's disco influences also shine through on "All Lined Up," which features congas and urgent rhythm guitar work that should drive listeners toward the dance floor.
Those looking for straight up hard rock aren't out of luck. "Eat It and Beat It" and the album's title track are both a continuation of the throwback sound Sheer Mag has been mastering for the past decade.
Like the rest of the band's catalog, Playing Favorites was mostly self-produced.
"I think it's more of a control thing than anything else," Halladay said. "It does make us want to murder each other, but we like the end result."
The writing process for the new record began with brothers Kyle and Hart Seely (on lead guitar and bass respectively), who worked out the structure of the compositions before bringing them to Halladay and rhythm guitarist Matt Palmer.
Halladay and Palmer have written the lyrics together in the past, but this time around the vocalist let the guitarist take the reins.
The band's past albums have been informed by Halladay's political views and personal experiences, but she said this record is more about the collective trauma people are working through in the wake of the pandemic.
Sheer Mag brought producer Ryan Mulvanerty to their West Philadelphia rehearsal space to help Halladay track the vocals.
The band formed in Philadelphia in 2014, but can trace its roots back to SUNY Purchase, a public college about an hour north of New York City. That's where Halladay met the other members of the band.
While studying, the vocalist was part of a "soul punk" group called the Shakes. Like Sheer Mag, the band defied genre expectations. They didn't have a guitarist, so their sound was defined by a reedy electric organ instead.
The Seely brothers come from more of an emo/math rock background. They were both previously in a punk band called Sirs.
Like many former Purchase students, Halladay and the rest of the band ended up in Philadelphia due to the astronomical cost of living in New York City.
Over the years, Sheer Mag has managed to find broad critical acclaim despite their strong independent streak.
"We're such a band's band," Halladay said. "We get mentioned in all these articles as influences."
The group has been on Third Man's radar since at least 2017, when they performed at the label's venue in Nashville. A picture from that show is still hanging in there to this day.
The retro album fuses elements of disco and hard rock while maintaining the band's punk rock ethos.
Sheer Mag's fan base is diverse. Halladay said many of the people who come to see them range from NPR dads to punk kids from the scene the band came up in. They also managed to court some metalheads through their tour with the crossover thrash band Power Trip.
But it's not clear if Sheer Mag is resonating with the sort of traditional hard rock fan who might shell out a small fortune to see AC/DC or the Scorpions.
Halladay noted that some listeners in that demographic wouldn't appreciate Sheer Mag's lyrics or seeing a band fronted by a woman.
The vocalist added that she still occasionally gets mistaken for the band's merch girl, but said this doesn't occur as often as it did back in the day.
"It's happening less frequently now that I'm confident in my abilities and know how to walk into a room," Halladay said.
She and the rest of the band are currently preparing to support the new album via their upcoming global tour.
The North American leg will start in Washington D.C. on March 29 and end in Philly on May 10. Following an appearance at the Field Day Music Festival in Northampton, Massachusetts, the band will travel to Europe. That portion of the tour will begin in Genk, Belgium, on Aug. 3 and end in Lisbon on Aug. 26.
Tickets are available for purchase through Sheer Mag's website. Check out a full list of the upcoming dates below:
Mar 29: Washington, DC - Songbyrd
Mar 30: Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle - Back Room
Mar 31: Asheville, NC - Eulogy
Apr 01: Nashville, TN - The Blue Room at Third Man Records
Apr 02: Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade - Altar
Apr 04: New Orleans, LA - Siberia
Apr 05: Houston, TX - The End
Apr 06: Austin, TX - Far Out Lounge
Apr 07: Dallas, TX - Double Wide
Apr 09: Mesa, AZ - The Nile
Apr 10: Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
Apr 11: San Diego, CA - The Casbah
Apr 12: Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room
Apr 13: Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
Apr 15: San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop
Apr 17: Portland, OR - Star Theater
Apr 18: Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
Apr 19: Boise, ID - The Shredder
Apr 20: Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
Apr 22: Denver, CO - Hi Dive
Apr 24: Omaha, NE - Reverb Lounge
Apr 25: Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
Apr 26: Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
Apr 27: Chicago, IL - Sleeping Village
Apr 29: Kalamazoo, MI - Bell's Eccentric Cafe
Apr 30: Windsor, ON - Craft Heads Brewing Company
May 01: Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground
May 03: Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
May 04: Troy, NY - No Fun
May 05: Somerville, MA - Crystal Ballroom
May 06: East Haven, CT - Beeracks
May 08: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
May 10: Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
May 31 - Jun 02: Northampton, MA - Field Day Music Festival
Aug 03: BE Genk - Absolutely Free Festival
Aug 04: NL Amsterdam - Paradiso
Aug 05: DE Hamburg - Hafenklang
Aug 06: DK Copenhagen - Stengade
Aug 07: DE Berlin - Cassiopeia
Aug 08: DE Leipzig - Institut für Zukunft
Aug 09: NL Eindhoven - Stroomhuis
Aug 11: UK London - Lafayette
Aug 12: UK Birmingham - Hare & Hounds
Aug 13: UK Glasgow - Room 2
Aug 14: UK Leeds - Belgrave Music Hall
Aug 15: UK Brecon Beacons - Green Man Fest
Aug 17: CH Geneva - Piz Palu Festival
Aug 18: CH Düdingen - Bad Bonn
Aug 20: ES San Sebastian - Dabadaba
Aug 21: ES Madrid - El SolAug 22: ES Barcelona - Upload
Aug 23: ES Valencia - 16 Toneladas
Aug 24: ES Torremolinos - Canela Party
Aug 26: PT Lisbon - ZDB
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