White Reaper - The World's Best American Band

The World’s Best American Band.

The bold statement from Louisville’s White Reaper is not only the title of their new album, but also the band’s credo.

“Because we are the best,” says guitarist/vocalist Tony Esposito. “Just like Muhammad Ali was the greatest, you gotta say it out loud for people to believe it."

And with that mentality the band hit the studio with close friend and producer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Young Widows) and made a good ol' fashioned in-your-face rock ’n’ roll record.

“We didn’t make this record or start this band because we wanted to come across in a single, certain way," says Esposito. “We just make records that we'd want to hear. We started doing this because it's fun as hell, just as much now as it was when we were 14."

Boasting textured melodies, layered guitars and more seasoned lyrics, The World’s Best American Band finds the quartet busting out of the basement sound established on their previous full length (2015’s White Reaper Does It Again) and setting their sights on the arena.

Garnished with glimpses of the golden age of rock and roll, TWBAB is loaded with guitars that scream and gigantic drums in lockstep rhythm, each song packing its own massive, but none the less unique, punch. Lead single “Judy French” struts like a runway model raised on Heavy Metal Parking Lot, while midway point “The Stack” pairs a classic rock shimmy with a flair for glam.

The Kentucky boys eagerly await hitting the road in 2017. Armed with a record that celebrates rock in all of its glory, they are poised to satisfy crowds whether they are packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the "standing room only" pit or kicking back in the cheap seats.

“Come to the show, have a drink, have fun,” laughs Esposito. “But be nice to everybody, cause you're gonna get real close."

Reviews

"The World’s Best American Band has the elements of one of the year’s best rock albums."

- The AV Club
"On The World's Best American Band, White Reaper knock it out of the park, drive over it in a noisy Mustang, and deliver nothing but a good time."

- All Music
Louisville rockers White Reaper prove themselves to be some of the most electrifying guitar-slingers on the planet.

- Stereogum
["Judy French" is] a power-pop radio-blaster built from old Camaro parts, and you won’t be surprised to learn that it’s rad as hell.

- Stereogum
"White Reaper's latest single is called 'The World's Best American Band,' which might seem a little hyperbolic until you've seen it live."

- NPR
"If the title of their new album, The World's Best American Band, is to be believed, yes. Yes they are."

- Noisey
"The World’s Best American Band surely ranks at this year’s best rawk record, where the riffs and rhythms and basically being an all-around rad dude are of paramount importance."

- Uproxx [#9; Steven Hyden's Favorite Albums of 2017]
"...a pretty great slice of all American power-pop, with a scoop of ice cream on the top."

- Under The Radar
“Their sophomore album is smart, well-polished, and cheeky—loaded with more riffs than you can fit into the trunk of a Camaro.”

- Pitchfork
"True to its title, the record collects the band's classic rock influences into a half-hour of beer-swilling, riff-fueled nuggets."

- Entertainment Weekly
"In some ways, The World’s Best American Band is the pinnacle of White Reaper, a 32-minute crash course in the best of American rock music and why it still matters."

- Drowned In Sound
"It fuses the party rock anthem vibes of Thin Lizzy and KISS with the obnoxious can’t-tell-me-nothin' attitude of the Ramones. The World’s Best American Band is a record for anyone who has put on their denim jacket and practiced Pete Townshend’s windmill guitar strumming in front of a mirror and dreamed about looking out into an endless sea of fans with their lighters held up."

- Noisey [#55; 100 Best Albums of 2017]
"If it's one thing both rock music and the world at large could use more of, it's fun, and White Reaper deliver the good times in spades."

- The 405
"Louisville’s White Reaper titled their sophomore album with a superlative and begin its opening track with the sound of rapturous applause. It would be easy to laugh it off if the band hadn’t stepped up to the plate. Their boozy, blistering music seems tailor-made to soundtrack road trips, basement parties, and any other setting where you can believe, if only for a moment, that no one in the world is having as much fun as you."

- Pitchfork
"...White Reaper manage to distill all the strut and swagger of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town” into a pithy, 10-song set."

- Paste [#14, 50 Best Albums of 2017]
#9 Uproxx (Steven Hyden’s Favorite Albums)
#14 Paste (Best Albums)
#20 Pitchfork (Best Rock Albums)
#55 Noisey (Best Albums)
Brooklyn Vegan (Laura Jane Grace’s Top 10 Albums)
- Best of 2017