Not really. It only works if b = -a, which isn't "distortion"; it's just a rotation and a scale of magnitude 1/cos(theta).
[1/cos 0 ] [ cos sin] = [ 1 sin/cos]
[ 0 1/cos] [-sin cos] [-sin/cos 1 ]
[cos sin][1/cos 0 ] = [ 1 sin/cos]
[-sin cos][ 0 1/cos] [-sin/cos 1 ]
a is the tangent of theta.