#philly scene

life at the kennel august 7th 2025

shot on lomography lomochrome purple 35mm on the olympus twin infinity

this night was insane, there was a lot of stuff going on that was tough but getting to play a set with life at the kennel was life changing lol

life (and most of damian’s projects (sadness, trhä, letterstoyou etc)) serve as constant inspiration to me as seeing life last novemeber made me want to start renesmee :)

also they’ve released a ton of incredible music this year, if you aren’t aware of life check out what i linked here plus whatever else they put up this year! (and check out their other projects too theres a ton of them and they’re all phenomenal)

Fuck it, we’ll do them all since I’m a certified Sheer Mag stan.  Sheer Mag is my favorite band of the past two years and such a great addition to my ever expansive music collection where I discover new shit to listen to almost daily, if not multiple times a day.

Sheer Mag emerged out of the Philly scene which is just a host of talent in and of itself with bands like Hop Along and Modern Baseball.  While those bands have an emo flair to them, Sheer Mag is flipping shit on its head by being a band that embodies punk rock but plays the most straight-laced, 70′s powerpop kind of music that you’d hear in this day and age.  The production is rough but the jams are there   And ultimately, that’s what matters.

I heard II first.  II’s calling card is perhaps their catchiest song to date, “Fan the Flames.”  Instantly you get a earworm of guitar, followed by Tina’s wailing that is reminiscent of Brittany from Alabama Shakes but Tina’s vocals are less refined, more loose.  “Fan the Flames” is a bit of a misleading song as it sounds at times soulful, like Motown, and not at all indicative of some of their more involved work.  However, it’s an absolute jam.  When Tina allows her voice to trail off during the final deliverance of “That’s the man you gotta give it toooooooo,” a single tear falls from my eye.

Contrast that with another favorite of mine, “What You Want” which is the leading song from I.  As an aside, I actually think a vocal melody in this song approximates Taylor Swift’s pre-chorus in “Shake It Off.”  But the highlight of this song is the guitar work that is absolutely what I like to call “shreddy.”  “Hard Lovin’” is another highlight from I, and it perfectly embodies the 70′s vibe with the, “She gave me hard lovin’ baby” line.  When the band delivers some well placed “oh oh’s” and “yeah yeah’s” at the end, you have a recipe for a song that hits its intended effect pretty well.

Then there’s III, the most recent release which is home to my favorite track in their whole body of work, “Can’t Stop Fighting.”  This song has a very “singable” guitar permeating throughout it, and the guitar work at the end does this nice thing where it pitches up and pairs with another guitar for a “double” effect.  This is “Sweet Child O Mine” by Sheer Mag’s standards.  It’s simply incredible and I always find myself enjoying those last 30 seconds.  “Nobody’s Baby” which closes out III has “single” written all over it, and is a good introduction to their music just like “Fan the Flames.”  This has a strong Cars-vibe to it and I love the lyrics in this, especially: “I wanna feel the midnight heat, and my stomach drop when you take my hand.”  And again, “Nobody’s Baby” is a really old-timey sentiment that works with their whole ethos.