You Deserve Love

From the slide in bass guitar line on the opening track, ‘Headwind’, the band White Reaper oozes rock & roll and summer vibes. It’s almost as if the godfathers of rock and roll all had kids and they started a band. Think Cheap Trick mixed with Thin Lizzy and a dash of Cars synth, and you’ll get the gist of what’s going on with this Louisville, Kentucky-based band.

I was introduced by my friend Josh three years ago when their previous album, The World’s Best American Band was catching a lot of buzz. Upon first listen I was struck by their slick guitars, well-arranged songs, and their overall rock energy. But I never fell in love, despite multiple listens. I even took a break from them and came back months later, but still wasn’t sold. I finally came to the conclusion that White Reaper had all the ingredients that I normally really love—Thin Lizzy dueling guitars, ripping solos, fast and loud songs, but it was the choruses that never really gained much traction for me.

Some critics have said lead singer Tony Esposito's lyrics are thin, but I think it’s more that the words are just not as catchy as I want them to be. Time and again, the hooks just fall a little short. My best comparison would be Weezer’s Blue Album vs. Green Album. I can sing to every song on the first Weezer record, but on the Green Album I only ever catch myself singing 'Island in the Sun' or 'Hash Pipe'. I think most diehard Weezer fans would agree that the band’s first album is far superior to the latter. White Reaper’s songs land firmly in the Green Album zone of catchiness for me.

So all that being said, I approached the new record, You Deserve Love the same way as I did their last record—I put on my Beats headphones, had a blueberry vodka soda cocktail, and settled into my rock couch in chill mode. On first listen, White Reaper’s rock & roll stew started to boil again for me. There were slick guitar licks and the kind of groovy bass lines I wish I knew how to write on my Fender P bass (that instead continues to collect dust).

But again, after a few listens I was stuck just like last time. I just wasn’t falling in love with the choruses. I do love a few of these songs, but not as many as I’d like. 'Saturday' rocks and grooves into your heart, and the single 'Might Be Right' sounds like radio rock from the era that actually had rock songs on the radio.

And to be fair, White Reaper is probably one of the best rock bands on a major label right now. But look at the state of the competition. They put Kings of Leon to shame. The Foo Fighters and Weezer, have been disappointing me for a long time now. Tame Impala have turned away from their rock roots into an acid-fueled, bass-pop band. In that sense, I guess I should be thanking White Reaper for bringing rock back at a time when no one else remembers how to do it (except the best rock band in the world, The Darkness).

Unfortunately, I just didn’t get there with You Deserve Love. For now, I’ll keep checking them out from time to time, and I will not turn them off when I hear them come on the radio. Maybe when we exhume this review in the late 2030’s my score will be higher, but for now it’s solid but not great.

Chad sent me this album earlier this year, and I just wasn't ready for it at the time. In the middle of a cold, gray, Indianapolis winter, it's pretty much all black metal all the time. Triptykon is about as cheery as things get in my house mid-February, and while I could tell White Reaper had something going for them, I knew my ears wouldn't be receptive to it until early summer. So now that we're in the heat of July, I feel confident I'm weighing in on White Reaper in as receptive a state of mind as I can get during a global pandemic.

First off, I don't understand the words Chad wrote about The Green Album. That album is chock full of hooks! Yeah, ‘Hash Pipe’ and ‘Island in the Sun’ are great, but don't forget about ‘Photograph’, ‘Crab’, and ‘Knockdown Dragout’. I won't argue it's better than the Blue Album, but I will say I never need to hear The Blue Album again, and I still bust out The Green Album pretty regularly when the weather's right for it. So fuck you, Chad.

As for White Reaper, I actually think the hooks on the first half of this album are through-the-roof amazing. To me, the first two bands that come to mind are Cheap Trick and (early) Phoenix. That's a pretty potent combination, and for the first four or five songs on You Deserve Love, I'm fully on board with this band. This is the soundtrack to salting some steaks and mixing up cocktails for your big summer cookout.

But then something happens on the second half of this album, and I honestly can't tell if the problem is with me or White Reaper. It's tough to pinpoint if the song quality drops, or if my tolerance for this style of music just caps out somewhere around 15-20 minutes. I can only say that Tony Esposito's voice starts grating on me, and the feel-good vibes start to feel a little contrived. But that's ok, I don't have to love an album from start to finish to like a band and look forward to hearing more from them. I'll definitely be adding some White Reaper to my Summer Rock mix tape.