White Reaper: “The World’s Best American Band”

Photo by Jesse DeFlorio

The four guys in the Louisville, KY band White Reaper started playing music as teenagers, and it still sounds like it. I mean that in the best way possible: White Reaper directly channels rec-room rock-and-roll posters in all their preening, sweaty glory, but on a DIY budget. On “The World’s Best American Band” (that title!), they pipe in (presumably) canned crowd noises to create their own Budokan-of-the-mind, and it works. The song sounds immediately dog-eared and arena-sized, thanks to little more than a few power chords, a rock-solid rhythm, and singer Tony Esposito’s rally-the-troops voice. Grab your lava lamp and hide the kids: White Reaper is here to slay.

“The World’s Best American Band” appears on the album of the same name, out now via Polyvinyl. White Reaper plays the Sidewinder on Tuesday, April 25.

–Art Levy // host, Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., producer, My KUTX

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