Papa Roach, ‘Still Swingin’ – Song Review

“It’s like at the end of the day P-Roach is still here killin’ it, years later, and we are still swingin’, we are still killin’ it,” Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix says of his band’s latest single, ‘Still Swingin.’ We couldn’t agree more.

Fans first got a taste of the song during the MLB Home Run Derby on ESPN and immediately got a glimpse of the new power of Papa Roach. This power is exemplified perfectly in the anthemic chorus with Shaddix’s vocals soaring on top of a band that has never sounded tighter.

‘Still Swingin,’ which is the first single off the band’s upcoming album ‘The Connection,’ definitely has an old-school P-Roach sound to it, but it is also a display of just how far the band has grown and matured.

The verses feature the fast-paced lyrics that Shaddix has groomed and perfected over the past several years, but the lyrical foundation of the song is in its inspirational chorus: “We are a beacon in the dark / A lighthouse risen from the heart / We’ve been here from the start / We are the ones still swingin’.”

The chorus doesn’t just sound like an anthem, it is an anthem for P-Roach fans across the world. There is no doubt it has deep meaning for Shaddix, too, who has admitted that he went through the process of getting sober during the recording of this album. The chorus rings with rare, unadulterated hope.

On top of everything, there are new elements in ‘Still Swingin’ that fans really haven’t heard from this band. There are subtle electronic nuances here and there and you can even hear Shaddix’s vocals get digitally manipulated, adding a whole new level of progression for P-Roach.

If ‘Still Swingin’ is a fraction of the intensity and rock ‘n’ roll that can be expected from ‘The Connection,’ then P-Roach fans should be in for a treat when the album arrives in October.

Listen to Papa Roach, ‘Still Swingin’