White Reaper is an American

garage punk A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

band based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. The band includes Tony Esposito (guitar/vocals), Ryan Hater, Hunter Thompson, Nick Wilkerson, and Sam Wilkerson. The band has released two

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

and four full-length albums, their first album in 2015 '' White Reaper Does It Again'', and '' The World's Best American Band'' in 2017. White Reaper released their third studio album ''

You Deserve Love ''You Deserve Love'' is the third studio album by American rock band, White Reaper. The album was released through Elektra Records on October 18, 2019. Background Following the conclusion of their tour with The Struts in the autumn of 2018, Wh ...

'' on October 18, 2019, their major label debut. Their fourth studio album, ''Asking for a Ride'', was released on January 27, 2023.

History

Early years (2012–2014)

White Reaper was formed by Tony Esposito and Nick Wilkerson while they were in high school. When they were 17 years old, they saw an entirely white

Grim Reaper The Grim Reaper is a popular personification of death in Western culture in the form of a hooded skeletal figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe.7-inch In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

featuring the songs "The Cut" and "Conspirator''"'' was released in 2013 on Earthbound Records. Wilkerson's twin brother Sam Wilkerson then joined the band as the bassist. Elementary school friend of Esposito and keyboardist Ryan Hater would also join the band.

Polyvinyl Records (2014–2018)

After signing to

Polyvinyl Records In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted vinyl () monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Examples Vinyl polymers are ...

in early 2014, their label debut EP White Reaper was released. The band followed it with a tour with

Young Widows Young Widows is an American band from Louisville, Kentucky. They have released four full-length albums and seven split EPs. History Young Widows formed in 2006 from the ashes of mathcore group Breather Resist. In December 2005, lead singer St ...

. In 2015, White Reaper's first studio album '' White Reaper Does It Again'' was released on

and they opened for bands such as

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

and Together Pangea. Guitarist Hunter Thompson joined the band in 2016. Their second album '' The World's Best American Band'' was released in 2017. In 2018, White Reaper played at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and toured as an opening act for

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

and

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...

Elektra years (2019–present)

In 2019, White Reaper would sign with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. Three singles were released from their upcoming albums in Summer of 2019. The song " Might Be Right" became the band's highest-charting single, peaking at number six on the US Hot Rock Songs chart and atop the US Alternative Songs chart. White Reaper would play at the music festival

Riot Fest Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival held at Douglass Park in Chicago, Illinois. It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances. Riot Fest is one of the largest independently-owned music fe ...

and with

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

. In October 2019,

was released, their major label debut. White Reaper appeared on

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

in December 2019, playing "Might Be Right" and "Real Long Time". White Reaper contributed a cover of the Metallica song "

Sad But True "Sad but True" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released in February 1993 as the fifth and final single from their 1991 self-titled album. The music video for the single was released in October 1992. Music "Sad but ...

" to the charity tribute album ''

The Metallica Blacklist ''The Metallica Blacklist'' is a various artists Cover version, tribute album featuring covers of every track from Metallica's Metallica (album), 1991 self-titled album (commonly known as ''The Black Album''). The collection was assembled in con ...

'', released in September 2021. White Reaper released their fourth studio album, ''Asking for a Ride'', January 27, 2023 on Elektra Records. Later that year, a song from the album, "Getting Into Trouble w/ The Boss", was featured in an ad for

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

's $5 Cravings Box, titled 'Family Reunion'. In June 2024, Nick Wilkerson and Sam Wilkerson announced on Instagram their departure from the band.

Band members

;Current * Tony Esposito – guitar, vocals * Ryan Hater – keyboard * Hunter Thompson – guitar, vocals ;Former * Nick Wilkerson – drums, percussion (2012–2024) * Sam Wilkerson – bass (2012–2024)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Notes

References

External links

White Reaper
* {{White Reaper Musical groups from Louisville, Kentucky Indie rock musical groups from Kentucky Musical groups established in 2012 2012 establishments in Kentucky American garage punk groups Garage rock groups from Kentucky