You Deserve Love

With harmonized guitars, spring-loaded rhythms, and snotty hooks, the Louisville band’s major-label debut is a well-earned success that doesn’t quite feel like a triumph.

On their 2017 album World's Greatest American Band, the Kentucky quintet White Reaper shed any vestiges of their garage punk sound in favor of a strutting and slick modern take on album rock of the late '70s and early '80s.

In 2019, it's a rite of passage for newer rock groups to endure speculation about whether or not rock is dead. Sure, the music doesn't occup...