A Distant Call

These are songs that make you want to roll the windows down, light up a smoke, and pound the dashboard in agreement.

Ethos is a different and a more complex matter. If you put out your own records and sing about leftist issues, does that make you punk? Maybe they’re trying to do something more essential, to find a version of rock that’s conscious of its History at that same time that it grounds us in the Now. Sheer Mag’s songs do that, again and again. And you’ll want to listen to them, again and again.

What has changed is that this time around is that she swapped out the usual 8-track recorder she usually used to lay down her vocal parts and instead recorded them with producer Arthur Rizk in an actual studio. Far from distilling any of the fury from her pipes (which sometimes sound on the verge of shredding themselves) the added clarity does a lot to boost the emotional wallop of her words especially on the more vulnerable moments.

It’s no reinvention, but there are subtle tweaks here and there for a polished record that cements their place as a kick-ass rock’n’roll band with longevity.

It won't bring down the establishment, but it does light a bonfire under their arses. [Oct 2019, p.113]

A Distant Call may contain some jarring juxtapositions, but on the whole it’s a welcome opportunity for Sheer Mag to prove that serious idealism and infectious fun can – and should – harmoniously coexist.

Building on their prior LP, Sheer Mag broaden their scope just a little more on A Distant Call while retaining the DIY grit and edgy concision that made them so arresting in the first place. This might technically be a concept album, but at 35 minutes, it’s still a punk rager at heart.

A Distant Call is an album with depth of production, more deliberate songwriting, and a commitment to style.

A Distant Call finds Sheer Mag growing in terms of their palette, thundering with confidence in their ability as musicians as well as their beliefs. Luckily, they don’t linger too much in the details of the overarching story line, treating the narrative as a vehicle for the songs rather than the other way around.

A Distant Call is full of songs that are pretty good, but it rarely stops you in your tracks. [Oct 2019, p.36]

The once nitty-gritty production that better helped listeners live in Sheer Mag's retro world has been tidied up. Having polished up so much that the line between self-awareness and cliché is stretched thin, it's hard to tell whether a concept has been burrowed or held hostage all together. In many ways, the charm is gone. Thankfully, a song like "Hardly to Blame," finds ways to make the best of less-than-ideal situations.