HIGH HOPES
Philadelphians who kept their powder dry for an imminent fusillade of 70s noise rock.
MATT PALMER IS reflecting on Sheer Mag’s early days of 2015-2019 when the Philadelphia power-pop band’s interpretation of peacocking seventies rock earned them a swift injection of buzz and exposure. But even then they had their eyes on the long game, and were wary of the attention being heaped upon them.
“We wanted to make sure that we didn’t ride the hype rollercoaster and burn out too quickly,” Palmer reasons. “We wanted to make sure it was something sustainable that we could keep doing for years and years.”
The quartet, made up of Palmer, powerhouse vocalist Christina Halladay and two brothers (bassist Hart and lead guitarist Kyle Seely) formed in 2014. By the end of the following year they had released two critically acclaimed EPs and were playing sold out, sweatbox shows across the world with only eight songs in their arsenal. All the while ignoring every label salivating to sign them.
“We could have signed earlier, or tried to make the jump into being a more mainstream band, but I think that it’s good that we held back,” shrugs Matt. “It was better to not flame out early, but get to know each other and realise how we wanted to represent each other, and what sort of music we wanted to make.”
Joining her bandmate on Zoom, Halladay chuckles. “When we didn’t immediately sign to whatever record label was hounding us, they were pissed off. People are still mad!”
Delayed by the pandemic, the band’s third album, Playin
