WHITE REAPER - WHITE REAPER

White Reaper is a band I saw live when they opened up for Electric Six.  I usually enjoy the bands that E6 chooses to tour with, so I picked up their EP at the merch booth and I've given it a listen over the past couple of months.

White Reaper look like a metal band and although their music rocks like a metal band, they sound more like a lot of that great alternative rock coming out of the 90's.  I hear bands like Mudhoney, Fantomas and The Melvins in them.  And that's not bad company to be in.

If I had one complaint it would be the vocal levels.  The lead singer's voice gets drowned out by the barrage of instruments.  The engineering on this disc isn't balanced well and at times you just get washed in sound.  I'm guessing the music was recorded as the band played it live in the studio rather than multi tracked.

The disc starts off with 'Cool', featuring a cool guitar effect and a great drum beat.  The lead singer comes in and you instantly think about the Paisley Underground movement in the 80's.  It's almost something I'd expect to hear from The Beatles with The Go-Go's playing the music.  I quite like the song.  It's groovy and rockin' at the same time and quite frankly, that's something people who get into Electric Six look forward to hearing.  'Funn' is the second track and this one is a bit more straight forward rock and roll number.  I like the punctuated half shouts of "No!" on the chorus.

'Half Bad' reminds me of The Bangles circa "All Over The Place" back in 1984.  It's got an amazing breakdown about three quarters of the way into the song.  It's a risky move but it works and the church organ sound playing in the background is absolutely brilliant.  This is probably my favorite track on the disc.  I really like it.  'She Wants To' almost makes me think of Adam And The Ants, while 'Conspirator' has strange timing.  There's a hesitancy in the progression that's interesting and quite different.  They have a knack for taking unorthodox musical chances and making them work.  

'Ohh (Yeah)' is the final cut on the EP and it starts off with an almost reggae vibe then transitions into some excellent head shakin' rock.  I like the music I'm hearing on this disc and I'm excited to hear more from this group.  My only complaint is the vocal tracks.  The lead singer has an animated voice and he's actually pretty good.  But again, it gets drowned out in the music.  I want the vocals to be more pronounced.  Louder in the mix.  That's my opinion.  I'm super glad I picked up this awesome disc!  My final words:  ROCKIN' INTRODUCTION TO A NEW AND EXCITING BAND!  GET IT IF YOU CAN!!!

WHITE REAPER - WHITE REAPER
01. Cool
02. Funn
03. Half Bad
04. She Wants To
05. Conspirator
06. Ohh (Yeah)