Elva is the fourth studio album by the San Diego–based punk rock band Unwritten Law, released in 2002 by Interscope Records. With it the band moved away from their previously established skate punk style, and towards a more accessible alternative rock sound.[1] The band found success with the song "Seein' Red", which reached No. 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks charts. This is the band's last studio album to feature founding drummer Wade Youman until their 2022 album, The Hum.
Production
After touring in support of their Self-Titled Album, the band took time off the road and began working on new material. In an interview with MTV, Ex-Guitarist, Rob Brewer had stated:
"It's definitely a little different, I can't really explain how; it's just more of a rock record and there's more material. The album will have more complex instrumentation and a more mature vibe than the group's past work, We're stoked on it, we didn't go into the recording studio thinking we need to write another "Cailin", we believe we have songs that are radio-friendly—we just play what we like and hope everyone else likes it, too".
The band began recording the new album in the summer of 2000 with producer John Shanks, Brewer further explained:
"We talked with a bunch of other guys who had done much bigger albums," "but they didn't really take the time to listen to the demos and had no solid input on what they liked or didn't like. John was totally different; he really listened to the songs and had some solid ideas.[3]
The band wrote about 30 songs with only 14 making the cut, two songs that didn’t make the album, "Dark Side" and "Baby, Come On" would end up as b-sides on the "Up All Night" single.[4]
The album was finished, but upon listening to what they had, the band decided to scrap the recordings, go back into the studio, and redo the album with new producers Josh Abraham and Michael Happoldt.[5]
In a 2014 interview, Happoldt recalled the sessions:
"Now that was a hybrid because they were on Interscope and there was a lot of pressure and they were used to doing certain things a certain way. So some lines were drawn a little bit there [haha]. But still, I got a lot of soul out of those boys for the condition it was recorded in. You know, huge studios, a lot of pressure from Interscope, but we had a number 1 hit out of that with "Seeing Red"[6].
Elva features guest appearances by Tony Kanal of No Doubt, Josh Freese of The Vandals, and Neville Staple of The Specials. The two "Raleigh Soliloquy" tracks are recordings of the rants of Raleigh Theodore Sakers. Previous recordings of his rants numbered soliloquies I-III had appeared on the Sublime album Robbin' the Hood. After the closing track "Evolution" there is a phone message to singer Scott Russo from Blink-182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge, a close friend of the band who had grown up with them in their home town of Poway.
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Scott Russo, except where noted
