Unwritten Law has, in my opinion, always been a criminally underrated band on the punk scene. 1998’s self titled record is generally regarded as a collection of 13 excellent punk rock anthems, and it is this past form which makes me wonder where it all went wrong. Or maybe that’s a little drastic. After all, Elva is not a bad record; it’s just that it isn’t a good record either. It appears to be hanging in limbo, without any truly standout tracks to speak of, but also devoid of any truly awful numbers.
San Diego must be a breeding ground for punk musicians, as a total of 16 past band members have passed through their ranks, with only drummer Wade Youman still standing. It is probably this constant shift in personnel that has caused Unwritten Law to change their sound on every album. Instead of developing their bouncy, break-neck rpunk sound evident on ‘Unwritten Law‘, the band have weakened and, despite finding much commercial success with this record (make of that what you will), they have taken a step down the musical evolutionary ladder.
It all starts off in rip-roaring fashion, however, with the aggressive sound of opener ‘Mean Girl’. Verses, which seem to be half song, half rap and a harmonised chorus promise good things for the album. ‘Up All Night’, the first single from the album, sets alarm bells ringing with the jaunting verse and ‘We’re all right, we’re up all night, to see the sun come up again’ chorus sounding more like a LFO song than anything else. ‘Sound Siren’ is a competent song with the band coming across as Lit sound-alikes, a comparison which is evident throughout the rest of the album as well, but is ultimately, nothing to write home about ‘How You Feel’ and ‘Blame It On Me’ leave little impression on the brain, leaving smash hit ‘Seein’ Red’ to up the standard a little. Not a classic punk anthem by a long shot, hell, its barely punk, but it contains enough hooks to leave it floating in the head after you’ve switched off the stereo, and if it can keep bands like Nickelback out of the charts in the USA, then may it sell a billion copies!
Unfortunately, the album dips even more in the middle. ‘Nick & Phil’ is a pointless answer phone message album filler which serves no purpose whatsoever, ‘Hellborn’ sounds scarily like Fenix TX commandeered the CD player when your back was turned, right down to the ‘Well motherf*cker come on!’ line which is repeated throughout the song and is another sub-standard album filler at best. ‘Geronimo’ is a dreary number, lacking in imagination and originality, despite seemingly ripping off Jimmy Eat World with the chorus harmonies. ‘Rescue Me’ is next and, at this point in the proceedings, it’s an appropriate title.
Everything is forgiven, however, when track 11, ‘Actress, Model…’ kicks in. I really cannot put my finger on what it is about this song that I love so much, but love it I do. Maybe it’s the chunky riffs that soundtrack the verse, or the sing a long chorus that does it. Whatever it is, this is my album highlight. ‘Babalon’ is sandwiched between two more utterly unforgivable album fillers (or soliloquy’s as they are ‘imaginatively’ titled on the track listing) and is followed by a pretty dire acoustic track that sounds like the bastard offspring of Green Day‘s ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ and a Carpenters song on crack. Not the greatest of combinations, I’m sure you will agree.
Elva can probably best described as a set of bookends without the all-important books in-between. A fiery start to the album, and an accomplished final two songs (The title track and ‘Evolution’, which seems to contain all of the bands meatiest riffs in one 5 minute outburst) disguise the lack of killer material throughout the rest of the record. It all seems a little empty and an opportunity has been missed, despite the fact that this is their most successful record and houses the bands most successful single.
All in all, Unwritten Law will never be anybody’s favourite band, and Elva won’t change your perspective on all things punk, and unfortunately there isn’t anything as truly stunning as ‘Teenage Suicide’ on here. However, if you are looking for a reasonably accomplished record that takes elements of Lit, Midtown, Green Day and Fenix TX and tosses them together without quite adding up to the sum of its parts, then this record just may be for you. Just don’t expect anything mind blowing.
Ross