Unwritten Law: Elva : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On their fourth album, southern California's Unwritten Law are playing a different game than punk rock's typical loud-and-fast three-chord monte. Elva comes off like a case of musical ADD: On "Mean Girl," the band blend sensitive strumming, squishy rave synths and ironic hard-rock swagger. "Blame It on Me" is crazed speed-metal rockabilly, "Rest of My Life" is a (somewhat predictable) emo power ballad, and the skanking "How You Feel" sounds like the Beatles' "Hey Jude" puffing on a spliff. The sonic glue keeping these different wheels spinning is, natch, the band's classic pop-punk harmony vocals, which fall somewhere between Green Day and Oingo Boingo in their spastic exuberance. Alas, you won't find the new Dylan amid Elva's odd-lot suburban angst ("I'm frustrated/So frustrated" is a typical lyric, although singer Scott Russo's detailing the perils of dating an "actress, model, dancer, whatever" in "Actress, Model . . ." is pretty friggin' funny). But the stylistic diversity on Elva provides some dizzying fun, and the hooks fly fast and furious, like No Doubt overdosing on testosterone - more proof that, when it comes to punk, rules are made to be broken .

Matt DIEHL
(RS 890 - February 28, 2002)