Jul 22

Jul 22 Album Review: White Reaper - White Reaper Does It Again

It's almost impossible to talk about White Reaper without mentioning their youth. This is not just because the four members are just entering their 20s, or because their name is taken from a Halloween decoration, but also because every single note and tone that springs out of their songs is screaming with vitality. This probably has something to do with their having grown up together in Louisville, Kentucky, where they also recorded their debut album. This boyhood camaraderie is palpable in their bold and brash music, which means that unsurprisingly it rarely strays too far from the topics of girls and heartbreak - but most of the best pop songs don't, and that's what White Reaper are making beneath all the fuzz and furor.

White Reaper Does It Again, just like their EP, is gung-ho, fast-paced, and relentlessly thumping forwards from the first second to the last. Replete with swerving and chugging guitar riffs, skin-busting drums and caffeinated keyboard melodies woven throughout, every song is bursting with pure energy. This sets the stage perfectly for Tony Esposito's nasal, only-just-post-pubescent voice to scythe through with his melodramatic interjections. He brings all their youthful energy to a focal point with words that make minor issues into major emotional confessions. Within the first two songs you have perfect example of the scale of emotions at stake. The opening track finds him singing about how seeing his girl cry makes him want to die ('Make Me Wanna Die') and then the very next track the situation's almost the opposite: Esposito is in a position of utter frustration as he believes his girl has become apathetic ('I Don't Think She Cares'). 'Sheila' is another entry into the great songs about teenage longing, as Esposito takes us into his mind's eye, looking at the object of his affection and confessing "you shot me right in the heart," while the chorus is just Esposito wailing her name while the band sets off guitar fireworks. This simplicity is so effective that it's not too hard to picture your own Sheila standing there smoking irresistibly and unattainably in your imagination as you listen.

Although White Reaper will likely be lumped in with garage rock or fuzz rock, due to the way their guitars are produced, the band that they are most reminiscent of is The Strokes. White Reaper have a similar economy with their hooks as the NY band did on their early releases. Every chorus on the album is catchy and simplistic, several of the verses are just as melodically appealing, and the way that their guitars swing from verse into chorus with a deft gear shift through a subtly brilliant chord progression, bass riff or drum fill is at times as potent as any other indie band. The roughed-up guitar edges may put off some listeners, as White Reaper don't like to play clean, but the pop melodies are so exuberant that they shine through. Their music is all the more potent for having these gnarled guitar sounds, as Esposito's distorted vocals pair well with these scruffy riffs to add an extra barb to his words.

White Reaper Does It Again is undoubtedly a summer album. In fact it was probably inspired by the guys' experiences of their teenage vacations; sneaking off with girls, setting off fireworks on the 4th of July and getting messed up with their friends. White Reaper are still living that extended holiday through their music, and they're transmitting that through in this album and their highly energetic live performances. Each song on this album has the intention of transporting you back to a scene from teenage drama, and you're always excited to be there no matter if it means sexual frustration or crushed dreams, because you feel youthfully charged once again, knowing that there's always another day, another girl, and another song waiting to take you somewhere else.