Track 21: Eat it and Beat It - Sheer Mag
Sometimes a high riding woman's got no choice but to be a son of a bitch...
I’ve always liked Sheer Mag, but the album they released in March (Playing Favorites) is absolutely their best, taking their love and worship of 70s to 80s Detroit Rock City style and infusing it with a swagger and confidence I never thought possible from them.
Exhibit A: the second track, Eat it and Beat it. From the first guitar squeal you know that they’re going to play with familiar tropes, but they take the sandbox and make it their own. The song itself is a call out to rock dinosaurs who really should just give it up already, and it makes Sheer mag sound like superstars. So much here just absolutely works, making familiar tropes sound damn near original: the yelps from lead singer Christina Halladay, the band punctuating the third line of every every verse with a spirited shout-along, that whacked out funk-rock breakdown, the heavy riffs - all of it clicks along like gangbusters.
I used to be annoyed by Sheer Mag’s megaphone vocal production, but now I find it endearing. If nothing else, it gives them a unique sound, which in itself is impressive giving how derivative they could be accused of. No matter - when derivative rock and roll sounds this fun, stick it directly into my veins. It’s dinner time and I’m as hungry as they come.
Click here for the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.
Click here for the Infinite Mixtape on Apple Music.
