Even though I’ve been a fan of White Reaper for a few years, I still hadn’t presented myself with the opportunity to listen to their third full length, You Deserve Love, that came out this past October. What better time than a quarantine?! That, coupled with a lot of drawing at my kitchen table, means that I actually listened to their entire discography again all the way through. Totally worth it.
On their first full-length, White Reaper Does It Again, I was immediately brought into the world of old-school punk, even though I doubt any of the members of White Reaper are older than me. Standouts on this album are for sure “Makes Me Wanna Die” and “Pills,” but each song has that gritty and fun quality them. Given that it’s been a while, I definitely need to throw this on rotation a time or two more to really appreciate all the nuances the tracks have to offer, but it’s a solid debut record overall. The cover art for this album happens to be my absolute favorite, which is quite an accomplishment! They’ve got almost one thousand other album covers to compete with in my collection!
Next up was their sophomore effort, The World’s Best American Band, and this time out they gave a very 80s-rock feel. Compared to their first outing, this record was more upbeat and a little more slick sounding, but with plenty of riffs to rock your socks off. Lead single, “Judy French,” was enough to make this record a winner for me (especially accompanied by that Alexandra Daddario music video!), but “Party Next Door” was another hit off the record for me. I really appreciated the evolution apparent on this record, but they did it in a way that didn’t totally redefine who White Reaper were.
Finally, this fall’s, You Deserve Love, made it’s way into my CD player, and again, they had quite the evolution of sound without me forgetting I was listening to a White Reaper album. This was a much more polished and eclectic effort, with a few songs throwing off some Beach Boys vibes. I was not mad about it! “Saturday” is holding the top spot for me, but “Real Long Time” and “Might Be Right” are obvious home runs off of this album. Overall though, the whole album made me feel mad respect for what this band has managed to accomplish in such a short time. Sadly, I have yet to see them live, but I plan to change that as soon as humanly possible.
If you want some new rock, infused with some old school rock, I recommend giving these guys a listen! Chances are, one of their singles have made it onto your Spotify shuffle, but seek White Reaper out and your ears shall be rewarded!