Nothing is Fine: Papa Roach Return with Crooked Teeth

“Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort.” You know the drill. We all do. In fact, if you played the role of frustrated suburban teen pre-9/11, then Papa Roach was probably your jam. Everyone needs a voice, that’s only fair. But while you grew up, their music sure didn’t. Papa Roach are back with the release of Crooked Teeth, their ninth studio album, and judging from the cover art, which depicts an anguished white male teenager, their target demographic hasn’t changed over the years. Now this wouldn’t exactly pose a problem if the members of Papa Roach weren’t pushing middle-age and still obsessing over the same “woe is me” routine they’ve been peddling since 2000’s Infest. Frankly, I’m surprised they’ve got room in their picturesque California mansions for all that emotional baggage in their lives. Burdened by walls of distortion and tired, angry yelling broken only by an occasional quasi-rap delivery, Crooked Teeth offers more of the same old Papa Roach fans know and love, assuming they haven’t committed a mass shooting or ended their own tortured existence by now. Boasting predictably titled songs like “Break the Fall” and “Traumatic”, Crooked Teeth is exactly what you’d expect: the sound of a band pandering to an audience they assume is still tagging along for the ride. I guess you can’t blame four supposedly grown men for trying. That simple formula of IRRATIONALLY BITTER YOUTH + GATED COMMUNITY IN THE SUBURBS = MUCHO DISPOSABLE INCOME still holds true, even 17 years later. Let’s just hope Papa Roach invites us all to the mortgage burning when they pay off the house that Crooked Teeth built. Say, whatever happened to the kids from that “Last Resort” video anyway? Oh, they’re all dead? Must be nice.  

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