Unwritten Law

Swan

Written by: PP on 01/05/2011 06:17:33

It's been six years since the previous Unwritten Law album, and for good reason. They spent most of the 90s in relative obscurity releasing average pop punk albums that nevertheless won the band a considerable fan base, until they blew up in 2002 as a result of the megahit "Seein' Red", which saw the band sell out and move into an alternative rock / hard rock style instead. But a good full length, no, that's not part of the Unwritten Law discography. Instead, they have a couple of hit singles with fluff and padding in the best (worst?) major label style. So why in God's name is there a new album out called "Swan"?

It's a good question. Unwritten Law continue on the beaten path of nu-metal induced alternative rock, though "Swan" might be their softest and simultaneously most anonymous album yet. There are a number of songs that are distinctly pop rock, which need not be a bad thing in itself, but somehow their songs fail to arouse any sort of interest in the listener. They are formulaic, over-polished, and over-produced, robbing them from any chance of showing any soul or honesty whatsoever. Granted, you can sit through the first four songs and nod your head because they have a couple of catchy vocal lines, but that's about it. Cheesy ballad "Sing" is painfully boring, but it feels like a masterpiece a couple of tracks later when you're introduced to some P.O.D styled rap rock of the worst kind. What in the hell where they thinking?

At this stage the album isn't just dead on average anymore, it's starting to show symptoms of pure awful. If you can last through "Superbad" or "Let You Go" without having a gag reflex, you're a better person than I am. But the sad truth is that rap rock, nu-metal, rapcore or whatever you want to call it, is the lowest common denominator to rock music. Even the good bands in the genre aren't amazing, and when your songs feel like C sides to a P.O.D album, you're in a bad place. Which begs me to ask, was this 'reunion' really necessary? Based on "Swan", the answer is a resounding no.

4

Download: Last Chance
For the fans of: Fenix TX, Sugarcult, Lit, P.O.D
Listen: Myspace

Release date 29.03.2011
Suburban Noize Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.