White Reaper

Asking for a Ride (Elektra)
by Scott Deckman

Stuck somewhere between ’80s glam, trad hard rock, speedy punk, and so-so pop (which is quite a place to be!), White Reaper has gotten airplay on the local Big Dumb Rock station with “Fog Machine.” The band stands out on radio among 4th-generation grunge-cum-fake screamo-cum-throw-in-whatever-electro-rock-thing you want. Does anyone even listen to radio anymore? (Or new bands? Showing my vintage here.) It’s such shit, I don’t blame you. I haven’t for many moons. It’s mostly banal, overproduced gunk. There, saved you the trouble.

White Reaper’s vocalist Tony Esposito went to the Kurt Cobain School of Unintelligible Lyrics, but he does it in a pop punk sense. There are real guitars on Asking for a Ride, like shredding guitars. And the guitarist is named Hunter Thompson. Not kidding. Okay, so Esposito throws in some screamo on the chorus of “Funny Farm,” but it’s way down in the mix. The song features a simple, fast riff that will burn sensory engrams in your brain if you let it. One annoying thing: the fucker tries to sound British.

On the aforementioned “Fog Machine,” pop pretentions mix well with Thin Lizzy guitars, “Getting Into Trouble w/ the Boss” may seem slightly derivative, but at least it’s derivative of early new wave, not Shinedown or something. The production on this tune is really sparse, counterpoint to the rest of the album; it actually sounds like it was recorded in analog. “Pink Slip” is muscular power pop with a good chorus. “Heaven or Not” seems pussy at first, then the post-punk Cure/Echo & the Bunnymen guitar and bass piques. Album namesake and opener “Asking for a Ride” is the hardest-rocking thing on here, with a fast beat, crunchy guitars, a blistering solo, and overall urgency. At times, White Reaper comes off as the bastard child of the Wildhearts. Will I listen to this record again? Maybe not, but I’m betting some of you will. These days, you take what you can get.
(whitereaperusa.com)