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More of a power pop band than anything else, though they're nestled in Southern California's skate/snowboard punk scene, Unwritten Law formed early in the 1990s, with drummer Wade Youman the only holdover from the band's early days. The group eventually coalesced around vocalist Scott Russo, guitarists Rob Brewer and Steve Morris, bassist John Bell, and Youman. After releasing their debut, Blue Room, on an independent label, Unwritten Law toured America several times but grew disgusted by the lack of distribution of their records. The band eventually signed to Epic, which re-released Blue Room and in 1996 issued a second album, Oz Factor. The group jumped labels yet again in 1997, to Interscope, and recorded its third album, the self-titled "black album," in 1998. Just before its release in June of that year, Bell left and was replaced by Sprung Monkey's Pat Kim. The album spawned a few semi-hits, like "Lonesome" and "Cailin," among the skate crowd. Three years later, the band issued ...