At a time when rock music seemed to be losing momentum, Sheer Mag’s back-to-basics formula sounded fresh precisely because it wasn’t really trying to. The lyrics captured the anguish of being alive right now, in an era when speaking up, for yourself and for others more oppressed than you, has never felt more important. “Everything about Sheer Mag is worthy of our time,” says Victoria Ruiz, the singer of Rhode Island bilingual punk collective Downtown Boys, “from their lyrics that focus so much on history, necessity, and genuine raw emotion, to how they make people feel when you see them live. I'm moved and inspired by their generosity in their music; they give all that they bring — and it's a ton.”

As the band got more popular, they started touring a lot. Then the label offers started coming in. “We played one show at Hotel Vegas during SXSW,” Kyle remembers. “It was just packed with industry people. After our set, I was trying to get back to the bar to get water, and every step someone was like, ‘Hey,’ — trying to do that industry thing where they're like, ‘I really dug your set,’ but you know that they were actually sent there by some person, like, ‘Get me Sheer Mag! I don't care what you have to do! Just do it!’”

But they never really entertained the idea of signing. “I just wasn't even considering any of it,” Kyle says. “It's like, We're putting out our own shit. That's it. Period.” They turned down the majority of interview requests in this period too. “There are so many bands that act like they're famous the second they get any coverage,” Matt says. “When they fall off, they fall so hard. Like, They're gone now. We've had a slow and steady approach to things in general.”