About Unwritten Law
Unwritten Law is an American punk rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California by drummer Wade Youman. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes, with Youman the sole remaining original member – however, he has left the group twice in its three-decade history. They are best known for their singles "Seein' Red" and "Save Me ," both of which peaked in the top 5 in the US Modern Rock charts and the former topping it. The band have also toured extensively both nationally and internationally, most notably as part of the Warped Tour. The band has released seven full-length studio albums to date; their most recent, The Hum, was released in 2022.
Unwritten Law was formed in Poway, California by Wade Youman back in the mid 1980s when he was twelve years old. The band's first lineup was Youman on drums, Chris Mussey on vocals, Matt Rathje on guitar, and Craig Winters on bass, Youman described the early incarnations of the group as "kind of Punk, Clashy, and Bauhausy", A number of players came and went throughout the early years, by 1992 the lineup coalesced to include Youman, Rob Brewer on guitar, Jeff Brehm on bass, and vocalist Scott Russo, who joined the band after doing an impromptu performance of Fugazi's Waiting Room at a house party. They released their first cassette demo on September 9, 1992, known as Six Song Demo. The lineup changed when Brehm left and was replaced by John Bell, with this lineup the band recorded and released the 7" vinyl single Blurr in 1993, which was released by local label Red Eye Records, Steve Morris was then recruited on second guitar, Unwritten Law quickly established themselves in the prolific San Diego music scene of the early 1990s that also included groups such as Blink-182, Agent 51, Buck-O-Nine, Sprung Monkey, One by One, Drive Like Jehu, and Rocket from the Crypt.
In 1994 the band recorded their first album, Blue Room, which established their early sound of fast-paced punk rock and gave them the opportunity to build their reputation by playing local shows in and around the San Diego area. Songs such as "CPK," "Shallow," and "Suzanne" would become favorites with local fans and would remain in their live set for years to come.
Blue Room attracted the attention of major labels, the band, having distribution problems, left Red Eye Records and signed a recording contract with Epic Records. Their second album, Oz Factor was released in 1996. The songs "Denied" and "Superman" received airplay on several southern California rock radio stations and were released as singles. Over the next year the band toured the United States with bands such as Blink-182 and Pennywise.
By the summer of 1997 bassist John Bell had left the band. Pivit bassist Micah Albao joined them in Seattle for the recording of their next album. Pat "PK" Kim, formerly of Sprung Monkey, would join as their new permanent bass player.
While the band was in the studio, they were dropped by Epic, and had signed to Interscope Records after Tom Whalley heard the recordings their third album, Unwritten Law would be released in June 1998. The singles "Lonesome," "Cailin," and "Teenage Suicide" became minor hits on rock radio stations. and the band embarked on the Vans Warped Tour, which took them across North America, Europe, and Australia. In Australia the band developed an enthusiastic and dedicated following, and they would return there over the next few years and release several singles and live recordings exclusive to the country.
The band spent a considerable amount of time recording and preparing their next release, 2002's Elva. The album was a stylistic change of pace, deliberately moving away from their established punk rock formula and towards a more accessible hard rock sound. The lead single "Up All Night" became somewhat popular, but it was "Seein' Red" and its accompanying music video which brought the band their greatest success, reaching No. 1 on US modern rock charts. They toured extensively in support of the album alongside bands such as Sum 41 and The Used.
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