“Hard to believe us when we grow up slow,” Tony Esposito shouts with a faint sneer on “Pink Slip,” a track from White Reaper’s fourth studio album, Asking for a Ride. The Louisville-based band scrapped an earlier version of the album, made in collaboration with a popular producer they refused to name in a recent Uproxx interview. And judging by the strength of the finished product, they likely made the right choice.
The blend of power pop and hard rock of White Reaper’s early EPs and 2015 debut studio album grew slicker on 2017’s The World’s Best American Band, but their roots as teens jamming in a garage in Kentucky are still palpable as they continue to aim for a wider audience. The video for “Fog Machine” even likens Esposito’s and Hunter Thompson’s shredding guitar solos to a friendly sparring match, as they take turns on a giant chess board.
Sonically, the self-produced album has bite, but the band is careful not to simply pile on too much compression. And while the songs are largely driven by Nick Wilkerson’s drum kit, it’s mixed relatively softly and his fills are carefully placed. Similarly, Ryan Hater’s keyboards are employed subtly and sparingly, adding texture to tracks like “Heaven or Not” and “Crawlspace.”
Like all of White Reaper’s albums, Asking for a Ride clocks in at roughly half an hour, as the band is clearly inclined to say their piece and race to the finish. Maintaining that kind of momentum is no easy feat, and the album exudes excitement and joy: “When my phone rings, can’t wait to hear what you see,” Esposito belts on “Fog Machine.”
But even if the songs on Asking for a Ride are sonically upbeat, they do venture into some dark lyrical terrain—albeit in cryptic ways. Several tracks allude to the difficulty of life on a major label and the ennui of constant touring, while “Crawlspace” morphs from a run-of-the-mill kiss-off to an ex to something entirely more sinister: “There’s no more room in my crawlspace/I’m gonna have to incinerate you.” White Reaper’s music is far more spirited than their lyrics, they skillfully strike a balance between exuberance and introspection.
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