Posted on: April 17, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Unwritten Law has been around for a hell of a long time. They first played music together all the way back in 1990, while “Blue Room”, their first album, was released in 1994. Over the course of these last twenty-one years, Unwritten Law has allowed their style to evolve and change considerably. What results in “Swan” is the band’s best-balanced album to date. The album begins with “Starships and Apocalypse”, a track that eagerly breaks out of the gates. Recalling their efforts from 1998’s Elva and 2005’s Here’s To The Mourning, “Starships and Apocalypse” is the perfect dovetail from the band’s earlier efforts to their latest. “Nevermind” keeps things going at a brisk clip, while the disc’s next big track comes with “Dark Dayz”. “Dark Dayz” is a tremendously emotive song; there may be a specific event that is fueling this font of just rawness but anyone that has been in any sort of similar station will understand and appreciate what has been placed on disc here.

There will be a lot of teeth gnashing with the track, but I feel that the band’s work with Del the Funky Homosapian is their most interesting yet. The style – emotive pop-punk rock – of the band is given a much different context when Del steps onto the track. While Del’s efforts over the last few years have been uneven, ey does not mail it in. As a result, the latter half of “Swan” is at least as strong as the first. “Swan” is the band’s best effort yet, and will be in my CD player for months to come. If you have been a fan of Unwritten Law in the past, get this disc. If you’ve slept on them, make sure to listen to a few of the album’s tracks and see how they have changed in the years since their founding.

Top Tracks: Starships and Apocalypse, Chicken (Ready to Go)

Rating: 7.2/10

Unwritten Law – Swan (CD) / 2011 Suburban Noize / 11 Tracks / http://www.unwrittenlaw.com / http://www.suburbannoizerecords.com

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